


After Castles Fall

by rhoenix



Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), Luke Cage (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Daredevil AU, Dark Knight to Paladin trope, Defenders AU, Different perspectives, F/M, Gen, attempting to pass the Bechdel Test, learning to see who you were yesterday as your greatest enemy to overcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2018-12-22 10:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 40,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11965935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhoenix/pseuds/rhoenix
Summary: When all around you is shadow, light can seem to be a myth - until someone shows you a candle in the darkness.Elektra's personal journey, set immediately after the events of The Defenders.





	1. The Shadow Within the Day

Harlem's heartbeat was beginning to slow, as the heavy red sun began to slowly sink into the horizon. Luke Cage walked with an unhurried, but confident stride, taking in the sights and sounds that were only a small part of why he felt so at home here - especially now.

What had happened in, and under the ominous Midland Circle skyscraper only three days ago still seemed like it happened only a moment ago, since all the events and faces were very fresh in his mind. Once the dust had begun to settle though, the dead began to be counted, everyone still alive felt at least a decade older, and four had become three. Or, how seven had become six, since Claire, Misty, and Colleen were definitely present - even if Misty had to leave part of herself behind.

Even so, Luke found Pop's old Barber Shop still standing, and Bobby still there with his chess set when he finally returned this evening. Bobby had given him a look, shook his head, and just said "Glad to have you back, even if you did have to go and pull down a building. At least you did that to the rich folks, and not down here."

Luke had chuckled at that, shaken his head, and examined the shop with fresh eyes. Walking around Harlem had helped to clear his head, seeing the faces of the people who called it home. Getting smiled at by random folk walking by was still a little unusual to him, but definitely not unwelcome. As if to welcome him back, he had already broken up a fight over something stupid, rescued a child from the roof of a second-story building, and made sure old Mort still had enough blankets to keep his old bones warm.

It felt like a good day, overall. Nothing dramatic, just some normal Harlem things happening - and that's exactly how Luke preferred it.

Hearing a basketball bounce near him, he caught it as it was about to pass him by, and then tossed it back to the kids on the basketball court. He smiled to their shouts of "Thanks, Luke!", waved in return, and resumed his slow walk around Harlem.

In many ways, Luke was thankful for a day like this. Despite having unbreakable skin, what was held within was not - and seeing so much death and destruction due to simple greed and fear never failed to make him feel sick, and Midland Circle had all those things dialled up to eleven.

His feet eventually brought him back to Pop's old place, where he once again saw Bobby sitting outside, his attention fixed on the chess board in front of him. As Luke approached though, Bobby looked up. "About time you showed up," Bobby said, giving him a searching look. "Some lady's been waiting for you for almost an hour. Didn't I tell you to get a phone?"

Luke raised an eyebrow. "I'll get one soon enough," he said, before looking into the shop, and not seeing anyone from his angle. "She still inside?"

Bobby nodded. "Hasn't made a move or a peep since she got there," he said, glancing inside. "She's just been standing there. Kinda creepy, to be honest."

Luke nodded to Bobby, and narrowed his eyes as he walked down the walkway to the door. As he neared, he saw the silhouette of a woman with long, black hair hanging loose down her back. She wore a sleeveless shirt and business-length skirt, which was somewhat strange since Harlem's weather was beginning to cool. His hand reached for and grabbed the door handle. The woman turned her head at the sound, and he felt his heart stop when he saw her face.

She wasn't wearing a black overcoat, red shirt, and black pants right now - but after everything involved with the events relating to Midland Circle, her face was as burned into his memory as the faces of everyone else who was involved - perhaps more. She turned smoothly to face the door, her arms hanging loosely at her sides, her eyes like twin pits of moonless night. If he hadn't met her, he'd think she was an upper-class woman that somehow found Harlem, and Pop's old barber shop. The thought that he could walk right by someone like this and not even realize it sent a chill racing up his spine.

Clenching his jaw, he opened the door, and let it fall closed behind him as he walked in. "Didn't think I'd see you here," he said mildly, which he admitted was miles of from what he wanted to say. "Not here to cause trouble, are you?"

To his surprise, she gave him a small, sad smile. "No," she said, her upper-class English accent shining through her words more softly than before. "I've come to admit a mistake, actually."

Crossing his arms, Luke looked at her for a moment before replying. "Just one?" he asked after a moment.

"This one for now," she said, taking a slow breath before continuing, closing her eyes for a moment before meeting his gaze again. "Matthew isn't dead."

Luke felt his eyebrows climb up to his hairline. "You want to explain that?"

Another small, sad smile appeared on her face. "I refused to let him die. Not after he fought so hard to help me to see who I once was."

At this, Luke nodded his understanding, but he wasn't about to let this go unexplained. "So, what does that mean? Is he like you, now?"

His reward for that comment was seeing a raging, angry bonfire ignite within the depths of her dark eyes. "I would never allow that to happen," she replied coldly. 

To Luke's surprise though, her next action was to close those same eyes, and take another slow, deep breath before re-opening them. When her eyelids lifted, the flames were still there, but no longer an inferno that could consume the entire world before being sated. "He risked everything he had for the chance that I'd be able to see, before the end. I..." 

She paused there, taking another breath. "I'm not sure I could do for him what he did for me, as much as I hate to admit that," she continued in a softer voice. "Besides, I have no earthly idea where I'd get more of that vile Substance without turning children into chemical factories."

"Wait, what?" Luke immediately retorted in pure shock. "Children? Chemical factories? What are you talking about?"

"It's not important right now," she said, with an almost haunted look in her eyes. "What is important is that I saved him, and tried to do him a good turn - and I think I made a mistake in how I did so."

At this point, Luke was feeling a bit like his day had already gone sideways since this morning, and he was only now finding out. "Okay," he said after a moment. "Where is he now?"

He watched her right hand warily as it moved up, but relaxed as her hand began to massage the bridge of her nose. "I found out a while ago that his mother was still alive, surprisingly," she said. "Though it was less of a surprise, knowing Matthew, to find out she'd become a nun."

Luke simply gave her a slow blink.

At this, she sighed. "After the building collapsed, I brought him out, and took him to the convent where she stays - Saint Francis, here in upstate New York. I... suppose I thought he deserved to have something good in his life, to have the chance to reconnect with his mother after he's lost so much."

After a few moments, Luke replied. "Alright, I get that," he said, nodding. "So, what was the mistake?"

Her hand dropped again at her side, giving him a flat look. "I dropped a severely wounded man off at a nunnery instead of a hospital - and I did it by sneaking him into an empty room in the dead of night, and leaving him there."

"So, what did they say to you?" Luke asked out of curiosity.

However, Elektra gave him another flat look. "You assume they saw me."

His eyebrow raising in incredulous surprise, Luke felt compelled to ask. "So what, did you just leave a note on his wounded body and leave?"

Seeing her scowl, he internally braced himself, but he got her explanation. "I wrapped him in my coat first, but... yes. I left him on an empty bed to surprise the nuns the next morning."

Nodding at this, Luke asked the obvious question. "Not that I don't appreciate knowing, because I do - but why tell me?"

He was rewarded by seeing her cringe slightly, a sight from her that he didn't think he'd ever see. "I came to you because despite our recent history, I had hoped you'd be willing to hear me out."

"Makes sense," Luke admitted, nodding. "So if this is all true, what does this mean for you? Where do you go from here?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out now," she replied, in a softer voice. "I'm still trying to understand what happened to me."

It wasn't hard for Luke to make the intuitive connection. "You don't know how long you have, do you?"

She gave him a small, wry smile. "No. My case is entirely unique amongst all the cases of a Black Sky being activated."

"What do you mean?" he asked. Despite himself, despite knowing that Elektra was the type of person who'd get you to drop your guard first before stabbing you in the heart, this was a side of her he'd never seen before. Perhaps Matt was the only one who had before today.

She looked down at her hands for a moment, her shoulders slowly lifting with a deep breath. "Let's leave that as a story for another time," she replied after a moment, a smile growing on her face. "Besides, you can't expect a lady to show all her secrets on the first meeting."

Luke rolled his eyes, and he didn't care at all that she saw it. "Alright, fair enough," he said with a sigh. "What are you planning on doing now?"

In answer, she began walking toward the door, but stopped with her hand on the door handle. "Trying to understand the light he saw in me," she said quietly. "Thank you for listening," she continued as she walked out.

Silence reigned within the shop for a few moments, before Bobby spoke, seeming to break the spell of stillness. "Claire knows you had a fine-ass, ritzy lady waiting for you in Pop's old stop, right?"

"No, but I'm going to have to tell her," Luke sighed. "Especially with what she told me."

Bobby looked at him, raising both his eyebrows. "Did you know you had a fine-ass, ritzy lazy waiting for you here?"

Luke shook his head with a chuckle. "That's a lady who'll break your heart after she breaks your arms, Bobby - not before. I'm not going near that."

Giving him another sceptical look, Bobby then sat back down at the table, and began to study the chess game in progress once again. "You'd better make sure Claire knows that, too."

"They've met already, Bobby," Luke said with a sigh. "She and Claire met before I met either of them."

Giving him a piercing look, Bobby shook his head as he returned his attention to the chessboard in front of him. "If I were you, youngblood, I'd make real, real sure of that."

"Yeah," Luke said as he walked toward the phone on the wall. "She'll definitely want to hear all about it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After seeing the recent Netflix show The Defenders, many things about the show stuck in my mind days later - but none more so than everything that happened with Elektra. In my mind, the show The Defenders is just as much about watching the four Defenders come together as it is seeing Elektra begin to recover who she is after losing literally everything she had.
> 
> She once was a small, scared child, much like the Black Sky we saw in the first season of the Netflix Daredevil show. She was instead adopted by Stick, and trained to be a weapon against the Hand as part of the Chaste. In the end, the Hand killed her and brought her back as a fully-active Black Sky, and we got to see exactly who and what the Black Sky was to the Hand - not a leader per se, but the face of their war to reshape the world.
> 
> If the Hand hadn't rushed things though, and made sure that Elektra didn't come into contact with anyone she knew while she was alive for a little longer, the plan likely would have worked as intended - and that's the most disquieting part to me. 
> 
> She had already forgotten Stick, despite her strong feelings of hate for him - but she didn't forget what Matthew meant to her, and she definitely began to remember Stick after meeting Matthew again. Yes, this is the part that makes any prospective attempts at passing the Bechdel Test tricky, since her idea of who Matt is and was, coupled with meeting him again is what helped push her into reclaiming who she used to be.
> 
> The other part of uncertainty is that I'm fairly certain nobody in the Hand's entire history had duplicated her situation, so we don't really know how long the Substance that brought her back will last. I'm also fairly certain that as ethically flexible as she may be, she'd think of brainwashing children into becoming chemical factories as an untenable solution to getting more.
> 
> But, clawing one's way out of darkness and into the light is never an easy process, and it's never straightforward. It's that path of redemption (of sorts) for her that spoke the most to me.
> 
> If Elektra seems a little out of character here, I'm taking what she seemed to be at the very end of the Defenders, and running with it as a redemption arc for her, of sorts.


	2. Silhouettes

Jessica fucking hated Thursdays.

It was when the end of the work week was just over the horizon, tempting people to relax - and then do stupid shit. She hadn't once had a good experience on a Thursday, and she definitely didn't expect that to suddenly change now, despite finding out someone she thought was dead... wasn't.

The trip to the nunnery last night was a hilarious mix of planning and panic. Her first hint of impending insanity was Claire bursting into her office only half an hour after a bill collector had woken her up with repeated phone calls. Staying up until O-dark-thirty to chase a lead on a case didn't help matters, granted - but then again, neither did the bourbon.

So, Jessica wasn't exactly in an empathetic and listening mood when Claire burst in, shouting about Matt not being dead, and apparently being held captive by nuns, as opposed to staying dead like anyone else. "Slow the fuck down, Claire - I haven't even had coffee yet," she'd snapped.

Claire's response was to cross her arms, and glare directly into Jessica's eyes. "He had a damn building fall on him Jessica. He needs to wake up in a hospital, not a nunnery where everyone's taken a vow of silence."

Jessica began rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "I haven't even had coffee yet, it's too early for cape and tights bullshit."

Without a word, Claire set down a paper cup from the local coffee shop on Jessica's desk, and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Taking a sip, Jessica cringed. "It's like someone added a caffeine overdose to tar."

"Well, next time you can get your own damn coffee in an emergency," Claire snapped. "Now move your ass Jessica, Colleen's waiting for us in the car."

Despite still waking up, that made Jessica think. "Wait, didn't that reporter lady want to go? Page, something?"

Claire shook her head while looking out the window. "She didn't want to get involved."

"Oh, and I do?" Jessica glared. "I don't get hazard pay for rescuing lovesick idiots from nuns."

"You do get free coffee though," Claire said with a strained smirk. "Even if it is just like road tar."

Sighing, Jessica got up out of her chair, wrapped her scarf around her neck, and threw her jacket on. After grabbing the coffee, she and Claire made their way outside. "So, why is this a girl's night thing?" Jessica asked. "Wouldn't his old law partner Nelson want in on this?"

"Nuns," Claire replied. "Luke wanted to go too, but since this is a nunnery, he thought it might cause less drama if just women went to get him out of there."

"You don't think the nuns will think he has a harem or something?" Jessica replied with a smirk. "They might try to keep him."

Watching Claire roll her eyes was worth the bad coffee. "I hope you can restrain yourself from leaping on him when you see him," Claire replied drily.

"Yeah, maybe to beat the shit out of him for being an idiot," Jessica said, shaking her head.

"You don't want to wait until he heals for that?" Claire asked Jessica with both eyebrows raised, as they walked out the building to the car.

Jessica smirked. "No I don't, he dodges too damn much. And he'll deserve it for being a fucking moron."

Colleen heard that as the two women got in the car, and laughed quietly. "I thought what he did was sweet. Stupid and very badly-planned, but sweet."

"So, he reminded you of Danny, is what you're saying?" Jessica asked with a smirk as she got in the back seat, and buckled her seatbelt.

Colleen chuckled as she guided the car out into New York traffic. "No, Danny's worse at planning."

"How did you find out about Matt being stuck in a nunnery, anyway?" Jessica asked. "Do the nuns have Twitter or something?"

Claire laughed at that, and then sobered. "No, Luke got a tip last night. He didn't really trust the source, but he trusted that the source who told him had reasons for us to know."

Jessica crossed her arms with skeptical look. "You sound like you're talking around something."

She heard Claire sigh. "It was Elektra," she said after a moment.

"What the...? How the...? What the fuck, Claire?!" Jessica sputtered. "You mean to tell me that kung fu bitch paid Luke a special visit, and you're not only okay with that, you actually believe what came out of her mouth?"

"I don't trust her," Claire said, as she looked back to meet Jessica's eyes. "But, I do trust Luke."

To that, Jessica sighed. Luke was a good guy, that was true. "That must've been an interesting conversation," Jessica replied after a moment. "What did she say to him?"

Running her fingers through her hair, Claire sighed. "From what Luke told me, she was waiting for him at Pop's old barbershop, dressed in business casual - he didn't even recognize her until he saw her face. She said that she refused to let Matt die after he stayed behind to try to save her, so she rescued him, and dropped him off at the Saint Francis nunnery."

Jessica slowly shook her head in disbelief. "There are so many things wrong with that story, I don't even know where to start," she said, pretending to think for a moment. "Oh, wait - yes I do," she said with a glare. "Why the hell would she drop him at a nunnery more than thirty miles away from Midland Circle?"

"Apparently," Collen interjected, "Matt's mother lives there as a nun. Elektra said she was trying to give him the chance to reconnect with her, to give him something good in his life after everything he's lost."

"So, her great idea was to drop a severely wounded guy off to his mother the nun, instead of a hospital?" Jessica didn't bother hiding the blatant skepticism in her voice. "I knew that bitch was fucking mental, but that's a whole new level of crazy."

"Yeah," Claire said with a sigh. "What shocked me is that she told Luke that she realized it was a mistake."

"So, what - she dropped this in Luke's lap, and wants us to go pick up her boy-toy? And for free?" Jessica asked with narrowed eyebrows, the caffeine now helping to fuel her mind.

"No," Claire said with a small smile. "That's the weird part. Luke found a bag full of ten thousand dollars in his shop after she left, along with a note asking him to go get Matt."

"What did the note say?" Jessica asked, her eyebrows knitting together in thought.

"It was pretty basic," Claire replied, handing Jessica the folded note. "Much less detail than what she actually told him."

Well, Jessica thought, it was at that. All the note said was: 

"Luke - 

Matthew is still alive. You can find him at the St. Francis Catholic nunnery. 

I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. 

-E"

Jessica re-folded the paper as she thought, and absently handed it back to Claire while thinking furiously. She began drumming her fingers on the armrest of the car seat's armrest as she looked out the window. "Something happened," she said after a moment. "Something big. I don't buy that Matt actually got her to think at the end - that's too easy, and I really don't think Little Miss Stabs-A-Lot is the type. There's something we're missing here, and that doesn't make me happy."

"This is one of the reasons we wanted you along, Jess," Colleen said to her with a smile. "Alright ladies, game faces on - we're here."

The whole experience, Jessica thought in retrospect, was both undramatic and very creepy. The nuns apparently had taken vows of silence, so Claire was forced to pass notes to the nun at the desk like a teenager trying to start a party in high school. 

When another nun wheeled Matt out though, Jessica immediately saw the family resemblance, along with the woman's little mannerisms around Matt. The nun slowly wheeled him out, bringing him to a gentle stop in the lobby where Jessica, Claire, and Colleen waited. The woman's hesitant touches, the movements that started to move a hand toward his hair or his shoulder was stopped, and returned to her sides. This was a woman who wanted to talk to and even touch her son, but held herself back.

While her mind was busy cataloging the woman's little movements, the rest of Jessica couldn't quite believe that Matt, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen (and apparently a blind lawyer, since apparently life loved ironic and bad jokes) wasn't dead, but instead swathed in bandages like a mummy. She could see him gently tilting his head to listen, and sniff the air before he smiled tiredly.

"Thank you for everything you've done, sister," Claire said with a smile to the nun who was very likely Matt's mother. "We'll make sure he'll be taken care of."

In return, the nun gave her a pained smile, and nodded once before taking a deep breath, and forcing herself to take two steps back, away from the wheelchair - and the man within it.

Colleen quietly grasped the handles of the wheelchair, gave a grateful smile to the nun previously guiding it to them, and began wheeling him out. "We missed you," she said to him quietly with a smile.

"I missed all of you, too," Matthew said with a smile, facing toward her despite being unable to see. "Nobody would tell me anything - it was driving me mad. What can you tell me?"

"Let's... wait to get in the car first," Colleen replied tactfully, wheeling him out carefully. Jessica helped her maneuver Matt into the back seat of the car, while Claire got in the other side of the back seat to keep an eye on him. Soon enough, the car was once on its way.

"So, you can thank your psycho ex for most of this," Jessica said to Matt from the front eat, looking back at him with a smirk. Colleen rolled her eyes while Claire actually glared at her, but Jessica pressed on. She wanted to see how he'd react. "She apparently dropped you off there, and then told Luke."

Matt sat there in his seat, an expression on his face that said he was trying to process this. "Wait, Elektra did?"

"It's what she said," Claire replied with a smile. "Honestly, Colleen was expecting ninjas."

There was a sigh from the driver's seat. "I didn't say ninjas, Claire."

"Aren't ninjas and emo troublemakers the same thing?" asked Jessica.

"Yeah, you're not wrong," Colleen said with a sigh, as Claire laughed.

The trip back was uneventful. Colleen dropped Claire and Matthew off at the hospital, and then dropped Jessica off at her office before leaving for her own home. Jessica had checked her office, found no new cases or clues on existing ones - and flung herself into her chair, rubbing her hands over her eyes. In fairness, she thought, what she thought would be a ninja-filled clusterfuck of a rescue had mostly consisted of awkward glances, and awkward silences. Somewhat anticlimactic, considering that they were taking the Devil to the hospital.

Sighing to herself, Jessica got up, and walked out of her office, already craving the sweet bite of bourbon after today. Her feet took her down the sidewalk for several minutes, passing relatively normal New York sights: two men arguing while a third was determinedly puking his guts out, someone screaming at someone else over the phone, a dark figure on a rooftop, a chef tossing refuse into the trash, two homeless people singing Amazing Grace together in perfect key.

...Wait.

She stopped, and looked back over her shoulder to the rooftop. The figure was still there, staring off into the distance. A pit appeared in Jessica's stomach when she realized that the rooftop had a view of the hospital where Matt had been taken, and the figure was looking in that exact direction.

It didn't even take her a second to decide what to do. Jessica turned around and walked into an alleyway, checking to make sure nobody was looking. Once she was sure, she jumped straight up, the momentum of her jump just beginning to fade as her fingers curled around the rooftop ledge. Though she cringed a bit at the crunch her fingers made as they touched the roof and pulled her up, she only pushed herself to move faster, hauling herself up to stand on the roof in record time.

Sure enough, the figure was still there, her black hair fluttering slightly in the night breezes. She didn't turn to face Jessica, even to turn her head - but she spoke nonetheless, her upper-class English accent making Jessica involuntarily clench her teeth. "Beautiful night, isn't it?"

"You," Jessica spat. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Wishful thinking, I suppose," Elektra replied, and this time, she turned to look Jessica in the eyes. "Thank you for getting him, and making sure he was alright."

This was not at all the response or attitude she expected. However, the adrenaline in her system was still ramping up, preparing her to fight for her life once again, and Jessica wasn't feeling especially forgiving right now. "Not what I meant," Jessica snapped. "Why couldn't you go get him? Why'd you leave him there to begin with?"

To her mild surprise, Elektra closed her eyes before replying. "I don't have the right," she said quietly.

"Bitch, don't play coy with me, or I'll pop you in your fucking jaw again," Jessica barked. "What are you playing at?"

Elektra opened her eyes, and looked at Jessica curiously. "You did, didn't you? I have to admit, I didn't expect it."

"Just like you won't expect it again," Jessica smirked. "So, spill."

Elektra raised her eyebrows, even as a small smile appeared on her face. "Are you threatening me with a punch if I don't tell you?" she asked, amused.

Jessica grinned at her ferally. "Yes, yes I am."

Nodding at this, Elektra clasped her hands behind her back. "Alright."

Jessica narrowed her eyes. "Alright, what?"

"I'm waiting for you to punch me," Elektra replied, a small smile on her face.

"Oh, of course you are," Jessica snarled, stomping toward the slightly taller woman. Once she got close enough, she cocked her right fist back, and swung for the same spot on her jaw that she'd hit last time, as hard as she could.

Elektra leaned back slightly, using two fingers from her right hand to gently guide Jessica's swinging fist wide of her face. "Not bad, but you telegraph too much," she said, looking at Jessica critically. "Try again."

With a growl, Jessica swung her left fist aimed at Elektra's stomach, her right already clenched into a fist for a follow-up. To her irritation, Elektra parried her left fist to wide of her stomach, and pushed her right arm past her face to swing back around, forcing Jessica to cross her arms across her chest. Finally, Elektra simply shoved Jessica's shoulders, and she fell backwards in a heap.

Scrambling to her feet, Jessica was about to yell when she heard Elektra speak. "Your left hand wasn't clenched properly. Try again."

Stomping toward her, Jessica swung toward Elektra's jaw with her left hand, only to glare in dismay as Elektra caught it with one hand. Looking at Jessica's fist for a moment, Elektra gently adjusted a few of Jessica's fingers, and pushed her thumb back a small amount before nodding. "That's better. Again."

"Are you trying to be my teacher, or some shit?" Jessica asked incredulously.

"You managed to hit me once, and you're attacking me even now," Elektra replied with a small smile. "I'd say it's entirely your own fault for impressing me."

Jessica's jaw clenched mulishly. "Maybe I wasn't looking for a teacher. Maybe I was trying to see what Tall, Dark, and Creepy was doing on a rooftop."

Elektra raised an eyebrow, and crossed her arms. "Watching over Matthew, and waiting for my new student. I thought it was obvious."

"Bullshit," Jessica snapped. "The first one I believe, but I fucking refuse to believe that stupid bullshit excuse."

"Well, you did complain that your life had become a kung fu party after I walked into your office," Elektra replied mildly.

"That wasn't a fucking request!" Jessica snapped.

Elektra raised both eyebrows with a small smile. "Are you sure? Your punches are almost painful to watch."

Just as Jessica was about to explode into a loud and angry rant, she saw Elektra's head snap to the side, and then somersault like a gymnast to her left, just before a figure with a glowing fist slammed down on the rooftop where she stood a bare second ago. The entire building shook from the impact for a moment.

"What the hell, Ironclad?" Jessica asked, but she could see that Danny wasn't paying her the slightest bit of attention.

"I've been waiting for this moment," he said while glaring at Elektra. "I always knew you'd come back to make trouble."

"Or to speak with my new student," Elektra replied with a raised eyebrow.

"I am not, and I will never be your student!" Danny exploded, the light within his fist glowing even brighter in his fury.

"Not you," Elektra informed him with a skeptical look. "I'd have to beat the impulsiveness out of you first before I'd accept you as a student."

Danny, at this moment, had a look on his face that suggested that someone just told him that Santa Claus made all his toys by torturing puppies. "Wait," he said, looking around the rooftop, and seeing Jessica for the first time. "Is Jessica a Black Sky?"

To this, Jessica actually saw Elektra facepalm before replying. "No, Daniel," she said in a slow, patient voice usually reserved for misbehaving children. "Jessica is not a Black Sky."

Danny looked utterly confused at this point. "Then... why are you calling her your student?"

Elektra looked up at him, and gave him a very patient look. "Because she hit me when I didn't expect her to. I was impressed."

"Wait, I hit you when you didn't expect it," Danny stated, looking suspicious.

"No Danny, I was leading you into knocking down the wall to the chamber, because you weren't paying attention," Elektra replied scathingly. "I will never understand how you earned the Iron Fist without getting the stupidity beaten out of you first."

Jessica couldn't help but smirk at that.

Danny drew himself up to his full height. "I am the Immortal Iron Fist, Weapon of Kun Lun, and I have earned the right to my power!"

Elektra raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Were I you, I wouldn't brag about being the Weapon of Kun Lun when you've gotten your arse repeatedly handed to you. People might think Kun Lun only makes shitty weapons."

To his credit, though Danny clenched his jaw and looked really, really mad about that comment, he didn't attack. "Remember Elektra, my eternal enemy is the Hand."

"The Hand, the Chaste, and the monks of Kun Lun are all dead, with the exception of Gao," Elektra replied flatly. "The castles have all fallen - only the weapons now remain."

"So, you think of yourself as a weapon?" Danny asked scathingly.

"A weapon trying to remember what being a person is like," Elektra replied.

He paused for a few moments, before pointing a finger at her. "Remember that I'm watching you."

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't," Elektra replied with a small smile.

With another glare, Danny leapt from the rooftop to another building, glancing back once at Elektra before disappearing from sight.

Elektra turned back to Jessica, dusting off her hands. "That was going to happen eventually, though I didn't expect it to be tonight," she said with a small smile.

Jessica looked at her for a moment before replying. "Yeah, Ironclad is like that. I have to ask though - are you doing anything else with yourself, besides perching on rooftops to watch over your ex like a gargoyle?"

Elektra laughed quietly. "Actually, yes," she said, stepping forward to stand on the edge of the roof. "I'm thinking of opening a coffee shop, of all things."

Blinking incredulously, Jessica couldn't help the skeptical tone in her voice. "You know that when Luke talks about having coffee with someone, he means fucking them, right?"

Elektra turned to look at her for a moment, and then to Jessica's complete surprise, she burst out laughing, despite it being quiet laughter. After a moment, Elektra collected herself and replied. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me, but no - I wanted to build myself a small store - selling coffee, and books, with an apartment for myself above both."

Jessica crossed her arms, and gave her an amused look. "What, does being a zombie pay well? You're talking serious real estate here."

"Surprisingly well, actually," Elektra returned Jessica's amused look with one of her own. "I managed to acquire the land that the Midland Circle tower stood on, and once the construction crews finish cleaning it up, they'll begin construction of the small building."

Raising both eyebrows, Jessica gave her an incredulous smirk. "Do you have a name picked out?"

"Of course," Elektra replied, raising her chin with quiet pride. "Chaste Hand-Made Coffee, and Imports."

Jessica slowly blinked at that. After all the bullshit of the past week... Jessica nodded. "Name's not bad. How many people have you told about it so far?"

"Just the people involved in various businesses to make this idea a reality, besides you now," Elektra replied with a small, satisfied smile. "I'll let it be a surprise to everyone else."

"Whatever," Jessica sighed. "Don't be doing your gargoyle impression so often, you make people nervous," she said, before she stepped off the roof to go get her alcohol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes 9/23/17: edited Jessica & Elektra's interactions at the end, as Jessica was written here not quite in character.


	3. Silver, Crimson, Black

For a fleeting moment, Elektra was darkly amused that the Hand had indeed gotten with the times. Or, in fairness, that Alexandra at least had transferred most of her records and documentation to electronic form. There were of course many odds and ends that weren't, but it did give Elektra a good basis from which to start.

It was one thing to know that she had been killed, and brought back from the dead - something that still didn't quite seem real, despite the evidence. It was another thing entirely to know that the darkness in the back of her mind, the shadowy quiet voice she'd had ever since she'd woken up was an old entity trying very deliberately to devour her from the inside.

She felt herself growing cold as she read more, and more through the meticulous records of all previous active Black Skies the Hand had produced. The seductive voice whispering for her to let go, to give into her urge to revel in the sprays of lifeblood from dying forms was and is just as much a liar as Stick or Alexandra had been. While it was seducing her to fall into her bloodlust after she awoke, it had been quietly eating memories within her subconscious that had not yet surfaced. A shark within the waters of her mind, extorting her to murder, while devouring what she could not see of herself beneath the waves.

If it had not been for Matthew's efforts, it would have worked, she realized as her hands shook slightly. There was a reason Black Skies were normally chosen as children, after all. Taken far from their homes and familiar faces, and killed in unfamiliar places, only to be turned into weapons. There was apparently an unspoken rule about not deploying a Black Sky in territories from which it had come, due to the danger of them realizing what was happening, and beginning to actively fight it off - as she had.

Her predecessors, it seemed, were nowhere near as lucky as she. The reason so much of the Substance was needed was not only to fully activate a Black Sky candidate from death, but to allow the monster within the substance a proper host, once all of the child's mind and memories had been consumed. Once that point was reached, the entity within would begin pushing and twisting the child's limbs, forcing the child's body to grow at its direction. While a fully-active Black Sky had tremendous resiliency, the constant reshaping of their bodies, in addition to all the injuries normally incurred from fighting at the Hand's behest required far more of the Substance than just the initial activation.

She closed her eyes, and took a deep, shuddering breath. It was terrifying to realize that she had her own mind now only because Stick had saved her when she was young, and again due to Alexandra's desperate acceleration of her own plans. 

On the other hand, she thought as she opened her eyes with narrowed eyebrows and determinedly began going through more of the documents, it meant she was in a unique position of deciding what to do with the shattered pieces that once was the Hand, and all its resources.

Multitudes of documents outlined how the Hand had turned many parts of Asia into their own personal bloody playground, ruling through proxies and fear for centuries. Now that the proxies had no more puppet strings attached, they were now greedily and clumsily trying to follow the example of their former masters, turning those same places into isolated geysers of blood.

Since she'd relied on her aggression and bloodlust to carry her through most of her life, it was a very difficult thing to force herself to not do so now. The darkness within her was not dead, only ripped apart and bloodied. She had torn it into pieces within the depths of her mind once she had realized what it was, and extracted from it what she found to be useful, discarding the rest. A fitting end, she'd thought at the time, considering that was exactly what it was trying to do to her.

However, its essence was what allowed her to still move, breathe, and feel. She may have turned the tables on it, using it as a source of power rather than the other way around - but it was not gone, only weakened. Every time she allowed herself the pleasure of hurting someone, causing them agony, or killing them, it tried to take over through her bloodlust. She felt angry and ashamed that she'd only been able to truly see it for the first time when Matt tried to sacrifice himself to save her, deep below the Midland Circle tower.

And so, she searched for answers amongst the many documents. Many books and treatises written by members of the Hand scoffed at the idea of centering the self, or calming the heart - but an obscure note, written by Madame Gao of all people, spoke off-handedly about this focus being the reason the monks of Kun Lun were still dangerous, despite their fighting styles being less refined than those used by the Hand. It was because, quite simply, that their inner calm allowed them to be more aware, and react faster.

In fact, the famed Iron Fist itself was the ultimate example of this philosophy. To even be capable of the technique, one had to know what the feeling of energy flowing through one's body felt like, coursing through one's muscles and bones like a raging river, and that took a great deal of awareness. To use it, one had to know how to focus and compress this energy into a single spot in the body. To master it, one had to know that trying to focus it only in one spot was a mistake - it was meant to flow as it needed to.

She narrowed her eyes at this, since it appeared to be a contradiction. However, another note by Madame Gao casually mentioned how after she'd received the Substance, she'd had to relearn how to focus and use her energy in her hands and feet, since it did not at all flow the same way after her resurrection.

But, Elektra thought with a smirk, it also explained why Gao was still capable of it even now. Moreover, it also gave a clue as to what the monks of Kun Lun meant about allowing the energy to "flow unobstructed."

With a sigh, she set aside those documents in their own folder on her laptop, encrypting them afterwards to be sure. Going now through more of the financial records, she made notes to consolidate some of the properties and holdings of the Hand, now currently unclaimed. It was in the immediate chaos following the Midland Circle tower falling that made it very easy for her to shuffle corporate holdings and ownerships through shell companies, and finally out of their hands entirely and under shell companies she owned herself. It was something very boring that she nonetheless took vindictive pleasure in, such as claiming the land Midland Circle once sat upon, ensuring the massive tower was replaced with a humble coffee shop, and given a name as a properly-raised middle finger to both Chaste and Hand.

Of course, this also gave her direct access to the dragon bones far below the structure. With work, she could extract all the bones, and turn the massive underground chamber into a training studio - but after recent events, she doubted anyone she may invite there would be willing to go. Nonetheless, there were many uses one could put a massive underground chamber to, once it was properly cleaned out.

Sending new directives to her accountant along with additional annotated paperwork, Elektra sat back against the wall of the abandoned loft she was currently squatting in. That done, she closed her eyes for a moment against the afternoon sun, massaging the bridge of her nose with her left hand. She took a deep breath, and forced herself to think this through.

Did she want to personally grind the remains of the Hand into dust, no matter where they may hide? If so, she'd have to constantly fight against the raging tornado within her, trying to eat the heart in the depths that she'd only recently found and begun to nurture. Did she want to focus instead on learning techniques, learning the true limits of her new self? If so, then she would still be a weapon that others would crave attempting to guide at their enemies, for their own ends. Did she want to simply own a coffee shop, and let go of bloodying her fists and blades altogether to focus on her own growth? She supposed that was the wisest choice - but however wise it was, she didn't think she could yet let go of her addiction to her own adrenaline and the thrill of a fight.

Taking a deep breath, she exhaled with a quiet sigh. Death was so easy, and living so much harder.

Then again, she thought of Colleen Wing. She wasn't a Black Sky, in fact, she had been trained by Bakuto to become a mere foot soldier for the Hand. However, what Colleen had done instead was nothing short of impressive, despite the mishaps along the way. Moreover, she'd taken Bakuto's head before the tower fell, runs her own dojo training the folk of the city, and worked with Danny multiple times to help defend New York.

Then, she thought with a smirk, there was Jessica Jones. She had evidently tried to be a hero, more than a year ago, before she met and became the victim of a man that reminded her very much of the bloody entity within her. Jessica had escaped the prison he'd made of her mind, regathered herself, and became a private investigator instead of falling to the dark. Despite her protests of wanting nothing to do with the "cape and tights set," as she put it, Jessica had leapt into action along with Luke Cage, Matthew, and The Iron Skull to defend New York from Alexandra's fear and lust for power.

As much as she wanted to beat Daniel Rand unconscious every time she saw him, Elektra knew that he'd overcome a great deal as well. She suspected that he'd had to deal with an accelerated timetable at some point just as she had with Alexandra, which was the only thing she could think of that would allow him to gain the Iron Fist while still being impulsive and immature in many ways. In those ways, he had not yet grown up, despite his power - but, he was trying and pushing himself to do better.

Luke Cage, on the other hand, was someone she had thought more about in recent hours. She discovered that he had once been involved in underground and bloody fights while imprisoned, and had almost lost himself to despair after his wife was killed. Instead, he had become for the people of Harlem what he might wish for himself - a bulwark against the predations of the darkness within people. On the surface, he appeared to be the simplest - but the more she thought about the details, the more she realized that he had almost as many pitfalls along his pathway as she did, and that his straight, direct path was itself a nuanced poem.

Then... there was Matthew, the only one on this Earth who could twist her up and make herself question herself and the world around her so thoroughly. He was a collection of competing contradictions, unacknowledged memories and feelings channeled into rage, but focused on making his fists bloody to keep the innocents' faces and fists free of blood.

Steepling her hands in front of her face, it was slowly becoming clear that she had examples in the people she knew already for how to proceed. She was not working alone in the dark unless she wished to be.

Nonetheless, she thought as she abruptly got to her feet, questions do still need to be answered. Deciding to dress in a feminine business casual again, if only to get the unwary to underestimate her, she left through the back alley, and began to navigate the streets and cabs of New York. Her destination was a large, older warehouse in the south side of Hell's Kitchen.

A wry look on her face appeared briefly as she realized she'd have to help look after Hell's Kitchen while Matthew was recovering. She knew that he had entrusted Danny to do it, but quite frankly, she didn't trust him to do it properly. So, it appeared that she'd be sleeping less for a while - but, she thought with a small smirk, the old adage that "she could sleep when she was dead" was already a past-tense event. So, it could be worse, she supposed.

Finally, she arrived at the old warehouse, and despite her instincts, simply walked right in. A pair of armed guards stepped into her path. "No walk-ins," the skinnier one stated. "You'll have to leave."

"No, I'm here to see Madame Gao," Elektra said mildly. "And I will. The question is: what happens between now and then?"

The bulkier of the two guards glared at her, but the skinnier one spoke into his headset. "Boss? We have a lady here to see you. A walk-in."

Elektra hid a smile as she heard Madame Gao's voice faintly through the guard's headset. He had the volume turned up enough that she didn't have to strain her ears at all to hear it. "We are busy. Send her away. Forcefully."

Keeping her body language calm, she watched the skinnier guard stiffen slightly, look at the other guard, and nod before looking back at her. Nonetheless, she remained motionless.

The bulkier one reached for her, only to receive a hard palm strike to the solar plexus for his trouble, leaving him a gasping heap on the floor. Continuing the same flowing motion, she clotheslined the other guard, and gave him a palm strike to the chest as well once he hit the floor. Once both were down, she calmly removed the clips from the guns they carried, and walked into the warehouse.

She was prepared for the reality of everyone within the warehouse having their eyes cut out, but seeing the mechanical ways they moved sent a small chill down her spine. They all moved as though they'd had their very beings torn out along with their eyes - and perhaps they had. Nonetheless, she continued moving quickly and quietly through the massive warehouse to the office at the very back. Once she reached the end however, she abandoned pretense and simply kicked the door off its hinges into the room.

The door shattered into a cloud of splinters before it moved even a meter inside, the outstretched fist of the tiny form of Madame Gao seen first before her glaring and unimpressed expression. Nonetheless, Elektra saw Gao's eyebrows lift at the sight, and she smiled in response. "Gao - I do hope you're keeping busy."

To her new senses, Madame Gao appeared to be a raging dragon hiding behind the mask of a mild-looking woman, but nonetheless she smiled in courteous welcome. "I was not expecting a visit from the last Black Sky," she said as she seated herself, both hands resting on the handle of her cane. "To what do I owe this unique honor?"

Walking in with slow, measured strides, Elektra seated herself after dusting off a chair of sawdust and splinters. "I was going through some old documents that Alexandra had," Elektra said mildly, "and I wondered if you might have some insight."

The way Madame Gao's eyes narrowed very slightly without her smile wavering even a millimeter suggested volumes. "She and I may have been old acquaintances, but she and I moved in different ways over the years. Whatever you found of hers is unlikely to be free of her perspective."

"Can anything be truly free of personal bias?" Elektra asked, her head tilted slightly to the side, regarding Gao just as calmly. "While you may have retained the knowledge of Kun Lun, for instance, the manner in which you channel and use that knowledge is necessarily different - wouldn't you agree?"

The smile on Madame Gao's face shrank slightly - but only slightly. "All life is about change and growth, in the end - even lives such as ours."

The smile widened slightly on Elektra's face. "Perhaps, but is the aim to channel one's growth only along familiar avenues, to only find new ways of completing old aims in the present? Or, is it to use the foundational hallmarks of the past as rivals to overcome?"

The smile had vanished completely from Madame Gao's face. "I would say it depends entirely on the bias of the person making the decision, don't you think?" she asked in Mandarin, and not English.

Elektra leaned back in her chair slightly, regarding the older woman unblinkingly for a moment. "Let us speak of bias, then," Elektra replied in Mandarin. "Your holdings are gone, your followers scattered or killed, your objectives all now beyond you. When once you ran most of the world from the shadows, now the shadows have expelled you from their depths. So, will you choose a familiar pathway?" She leaned forward to look Gao more closely in the eyes, and then continued in English. "Or, will you choose a new path?"

"What are you suggesting?" Madame Gao replied, her entire body still - Elektra didn't even see her shoulders rise and fall with each breath.

"You have many options open before you, and most of them will not place you into subservience," Elektra informed her calmly. "You're an intelligent woman; I'm certain you can see at least a few of them already. And if not, I've heard a tale of a coffee shop opening soon where Midland Circle once stood, where matters of importance might be discussed. Perhaps you may see other options there," she said calmly.

Madame Gao leaned back slightly, looking Elektra in the eyes without any other motion, even blinking for a few moments. "Fortune opens many doors - perhaps one of them might lead there. Perhaps other avenues will arrive with players returning to the board - Fisk, for instance. Time will tell for certain," she said at last.

Elektra prevented herself from reacting outwardly, but inwardly she cursed herself for forgetting about Matthew's nemesis. Gao was indeed right, the large man was due for early release soon, and he would need watching. However, there was still the present to deal with. "Indeed, time and opportunity will tell for certain," Elektra smiled after a moment. "May good fortune find you again, Gao," she said before walking out.

As she walked out of the warehouse and back into the light of the late afternoon, she took a single slow, deep breath. Madame Gao was an old and wily dragon, with different motivations and perspectives than most, which made her actions difficult to predict if one didn't know what they were. Elektra herself didn't know all of them, though she suspected that she was one of the few still alive who even had a chance to. Nonetheless, the foundation and precedent had now been laid for future dealings with Gao, and that was a start.

However, as Gao reminded her, Wilson Fisk was going to stomp back onto the scene shortly - and he would need watching while Matthew was recuperating.

Taking the longer ways back to the abandoned loft she currently called home, she unlocked her laptop, and began checking through criminal records to verify Fisk's date of release. Her eyebrows narrowed as she saw that he had been released this very day, and was currently being processed out.

She looked out the window, beheld the sun sinking into the horizon, and narrowed her eyes before reaching for what she now thought of as her real "work" clothes.

Elektra was her own boss now, and it was time to go to work.

Over her bra and black tank-top, she attached her sword harness with the sheath going straight down her spine, and slid her blades into it with a click, one on either side of her spine. Next was the harness for her twin double-edged sai at the small of her back. Sliding the sai into the cross-wise sheaths, their handles appeared just over her buttocks, their comforting weight a reminder. Lastly, she put on a black wrap over the lower half of her face, and a long, black overcoat. 

Tying her hair back into a ponytail, she waited until after the sun set and the sky was beginning to truly darken before she left. Leaping soundlessly from the ledge of one of her loft's windows to the roof, it was a simple matter to leap from rooftop to rooftop to reach the private airfield where Fisk would be landing.

She reached it within minutes, moving through the shadows to the top of the control tower, and waited.

The private helicopter was only five minutes late. What attracted her attention first was the crimson-spattered stain on the inside of the helicopter's windshield, becoming clearer as it descended. Movement was seen within the windows before it even landed heavily on the grass, just as a black limousine drove up.

A man with what appeared to be a burn scar in the shape of a target on his forehead emerged first from the helicopter, his hairless scalp dimly reflecting the lights around him. He reached, and threw a corpse wearing a uniform that matched the livery of the helicopter contemptuously onto the grass itself before stepping out.

Following him was a blonde man with a buzzcut, and what appeared to be an American flag tattooed on his right cheek. His eyes moved ceaselessly, looking for threats, and betraying his heightened state of adrenaline as he did. Lastly, a large bald man wearing a white business suit stepped out, and nonchalantly stepped over the corpse of who once was the helicopter pilot.

"Gentlemen, let's adjourn to the boardroom for a proper meeting," Fisk said to the other two men. "We have much to discuss," he said, as he led the way to the limousine, the driver scurrying to open the door for him.

The man with the target scar on his forehead grinned ferally at this, even as he wiped blood from his hands. He and the man with the American flag on his face both got into the limousine, and it drove away just as the helicopter exploded, consuming the corpse nearby with jagged metal and fire.

Elektra consciously began to control her breathing, keeping each breath slow and deep. She could feel her rage and lust for blood igniting like a phosphorus fire within her veins, and she consciously forced it to calm, lest the beast within her strike at her mind while she was distracted. This is a test, she thought to herself even as she raced to follow the limousine from the shadows and rooftops. A test to see if she could ride her own rage without getting caught up in its howling winds.

Predictably, Fisk's limousine took he and his two companions directly to his headquarters. Perched on a roof nearby, she spied an air vent two stories from the ground that would be large enough to fit a person, if they could reach it. Smirking beneath her mask, she checked for cameras or people nearby; once satisfied, she leapt up to the vent cover, yanked it open, and caught the ledge with her other hand before she began to fall. From there, it was but a moment's work to get inside, and close the vent cover behind her.

Using her senses to track where the three men were in the building, she navigated the air vents upward until she reached Fisk's office. Backtracking, she emerged from the large air vent in the bathroom attached to the office, which thankfully had the light off. Walking and moving without a sound, she crept into the office to see Fisk standing behind his desk, his arms and hands wide as he was mid-speech. The two men in attendance were facing him, away from the door, their stances suggesting that they knew their places as lackeys to a larger dog.

"...and destruction in its wake," Fisk said expansively. "Gentlemen, we have a rare opportunity to force order from chaos, to take advantage of the broken empires around us to build our own. We just have to remove a few obstacles from our path, and we will be walking upon paths of gold."

"I'm with you, Fisk," said the bald man with the target scar on his forehead, and Elektra could hear the grin in his voice, despite having his back to her. "I'm pretty good at troubleshooting problems, how about you, Nuke?"

"As long as the money's good, and I get my pills when I need them, I'm good," the other man replied with a shrug.

"Ah, yes - I'd hate for one of my employees to be under-equipped for the job," Fisk said with a toothy grin, as he pulled a silver case from one of his desk drawers. "This is a full week's supply, so you'll have to notify me as you run low, to ensure no interruption of care," he finished with an almost friendly smile.

The man on the left, Nuke, just nodded once to this.

"Good, good," Fisk replied with a smile. "Now, Bullseye, I want you to use a particular set of weapons for your task. I hope you have no objections to a change of weapons, but I want you to both be able to accomplish the tasks I set before you, as well as have them send a specific message," he said, as he handed the bald man, Bullseye, a metal case.

The bald man opened the case, and Elektra's eyes narrowed as she saw that within the case was row upon row of throwing daggers with sword-catching hilts, shaped very much like her own sai. However, she remained still, and kept her heart rate and breathing controlled.

The man giggled to himself, something that made Elektra raise an eyebrow from her position well-hidden in the shadows of the office. "Pretty knives, very pretty knives," he said, giggling again. "What's the message you want me to send with 'em?"

Fisk smiled expansively. "You misunderstand. The mere act that you would kill with those weapons is itself the message."

"Huh," said the bald man, obviously sceptical. "Well, whatever - as long as I keep getting my cash, I'll kill people with playing cards if you want me to."

"That won't be necessary," Fisk said with a smile. "Gentlemen, we are on the precipice of a new age, one that we will help usher in," he said as he turned his back to them, and looked out the window. "We have many great tasks before us, and though our hands may be bloodied, our heads will be unbowed."

Seeing her chance, Elektra darted soundlessly from the shadows, stabbed both men through the backs of their necks, and pressed both of her sai all the way through the center of their throats. She ducked down, keeping her form invisible for now by hiding behind Nuke's larger bulk.

Fisk sensed that he'd been interrupted, turned around, and stopped mid-word as he saw the shining points in the center of their throats. Now that she had his attention, Elektra yanked the sais back out and sheathed them at the small of her back in one smooth motion. Continuing her movement, she drew the blades from her back, sliced outward from her body to behead both of them at once, and stood to her full height.

Their eyes met over the now headless necks of the two former men, and through the spray of blood coming from their necks. She let the moment hang, and then kicked both of the men toward Fisk, forcing him to scramble backward, but his white suit was sprayed liberally with blood nonetheless.

"Good evening, Mr. Fisk," she said in a calm, and almost friendly tone of voice. "Welcome back to New York," she continued as she cleaned her blades on the headless men's pants. Looking up to meet his eyes, she finished speaking. "Know that you are being watched."

Without waiting for an answer, she stepped backwards into the shadows of the office, and darted back toward the bathroom the instant she was out of view. It wasn't a moment too soon, as Fisk threw off his lethargy, and turned on all the lights in his office with a roar of anger. "We have an intruder in the building!" she could hear him shout into his desk phone. "Find her, and consider her extremely hostile!"

Well, that much is true, she thought with a smirk as she navigated through the air vents back out to the side of the building. Before she opened the vent through, she saw two nervous-looking guards walking along the alleyway, guns drawn.

"So, what the hell are we even looking for?" one of the men asked, his gun shaking slightly in his hands.

"I got no idea man, just that some broad snuck in to the boss' office and offed two of his boys," the other guard replied, his gun shaking just as much.

"Man, I don't need this shit," the first man said, his breaths coming short and shallow, betraying his fear. "I just need a quiet night, so I can get home, wake my kids up for school, send them on their way, and go pass out with a beer. I'm two damn weeks from becoming a permanent employee, I really don't need this."

"Yeah, I take care of my sister's kids the same way man," the other guard replied as he looked around the alleyway, though he didn't look up. "I hear you. I'll watch your back, you watch mine, and we'll both go home on time, okay?"

Damn you Matthew for making me want to find my conscience, Elektra thought as she shook her head with a quiet sigh. Carefully opening the vent to not make a sound, she threw a pebble from the vent out into the street, and toward a garbage bin. She smirked as the rock made a dull ringing noise on the metal of the garbage bin, and closed the vent cover just as carefully.

"What the hell was that?" the first man asked, his eyes wide, and now turned toward the mouth of the alleyway. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I heard it," the other guard said, moving slowly toward the garbage bin with his gun aimed at it. "Come on, let's go check it out."

"A-alright, I'm right with you," the first one replied.

She waited until they were out of earshot or view of her, then she opened the vent cover again. Carefully lowering herself out of it while holding onto the lip of the vent with one hand, she just as carefully closed it with the other as she let go, and landed with a somersault to her feet. Climbing the building's drain-pipe rapidly, she ascended to the roof. 

Checking to see that she hadn't been spotted, she then raced across the rooftops to eventually reach Hell's Kitchen once again, and soon enough, her loft.

Her training demanded that she check for possible intrusion before she relaxed - and once she was satisfied, she removed the harness on her back with her blades, but kept her sai sheaths where they were. Putting back on the coat, she adjusted the mask she had over her mouth and nose, and once again went to the roof. 

With that, she closed her eyes, letting the sounds, smells, and feel of the place whisper to her as she had seen it do with Matt several times. Unfortunately, her senses weren't yet as honed as his, so to her, it still felt like a cacophony. Even so, she thought as she opened her eyes and began to run silently along the rooftops, it was her self-imposed duty to help watch over Hell's Kitchen when he could not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm subverting the Born Again storyline with this, I know - but, this opens up some interesting possibilities by doing so.
> 
> The song title for this chapter was taken from the Zach Hemsey song of the same name.
> 
> EDIT (09/05): chapter 4 removed. It was funny, but it didn't really carry the right tone. I'm working on another chapter from Danny's perspective to replace it.


	4. The Space Between Polarities

The people Father Lantom passed as he walked around the neighborhood all had different lives, different experiences - but the undertone of fear and relief was still present. New York in general, and Hell's Kitchen in specific was still healing from the scars left in the wake of the Incident and all it entailed - the sudden collapse of a prominent financial building to a bomb of all things just set the people's anxiety on edge again.

Oh, there were some who said it was done by heroes of this city, and for a good cause - but even if that was completely true, if even one innocent life was taken by that building's fall, then Father Lantom felt sure Jesus would have wept unabashedly for the lives snuffed out so senselessly. He felt like doing the same, especially since the people's hearts, only recently settled, were now once again aflutter with nervousness and fear.

Shaking his head slowly, Father Lantom finished his slow walk, smiling at the people he had passed. He'd had a wonderful conversation with Imam Anseri, on break from speaking at the nearby mosque earlier today - it rekindled his feeling that though all humanity was blindly trying to understand God, anyone who sincerely tried is loved by Him, no matter what they call the path to Him. Watching the interfaith connections between religions of Hell's Kitchen grow had lifted his heart, and making sure those connections were still strong now was especially important, he felt.

His feet slowly took him up the stone steps to the church he had come to call home. Each day of his was full, but his duty to the people around him helped him feel as if his daily work had a tangible effect, even if it was a subtle one. 

As he entered the doors, he saw the church pews otherwise empty, except for a single woman seated halfway toward the front, alone. Her head was bowed, allowing her long black hair to spill like a waterfall of ink over her shoulders. He saw her head turn slightly when he opened the doors, but she didn't turn to look, and didn't get up yet.

He frowned, and decided to approach her, making sure each of his footsteps scuffed against the hardwood floors of the church, so as to not surprise her. He waited to speak until he was standing next to the row of the pew she was seated in, and gave her a kindly smile. "You're welcome here as long as you like. Please ask me if you have any questions, miss," he said.

She turned toward him then, and he saw a thousand things in her face, all fighting together with a sense of despair, but this was a fight she was by no means surrendering to. He had seen that look several times in his life. What she said, however, took him aback somewhat. "Thank you," she said, an upper-class English accent dancing around her words. "To be honest, I was hoping for... some insight, I suppose. I can leave if I'm a bother."

"I can promise you now that you're no bother," Father Lantom smiled at her. "May I ask if you've been to church before?"

A wry smile appeared on her face before she replied. "I never have in my life before tonight, no. I suppose it's a relief that I haven't simply burst into flames after I walked in the door."

Father Lantom raised an eyebrow at that, but gave her a warm smile nonetheless. "Well, you don't have to worry about ceremony, or saying the right things. If you like, we can just start with a latte."

She blinked at that, looking for a moment as if she was trying to decide if he was joking. "You mean, you actually serve coffee here?" she asked, her tone making it clear she was trying deliberately to not sound incredulous.

He shrugged with a self-deprecating smile. "Several of the people who come in have a difficult time speaking from their hearts surrounded by wooden walls - some find it easier to just talk with a priest over coffee."

She smiled back at him, though her smile had a tinge of sadness in it. "That sounds lovely. I'd rather not do the wrong thing and cause my own spontaneous combustion," she said lightly.

Father Lantom chuckled at that, and walked with her toward the break room of the church. She kept pace with his slow strides without complaint. "For what it's worth," he told her, "Many people experience things in their lives that cause them to look at things differently."

She blinked once at him, and then gave him a wry smile. "I suppose it was obvious, wasn't it?"

He shrugged. "Everyone has those things happen, in one form or another. Some experience it with dramatic tragedy, others by quieter ways - but we are all affected and changed by those things. What makes our lives interesting and special is what we choose to do after the dust settles."

"It feels as if I'm watching dust settle, and still finding it hard to see," the woman replied quietly, as they walked into the breakroom.

Father Lantom went through the familiar motions of making a latte, giving her all the time she needed. However, she didn't speak a word until he handed her the steaming mug. Her skin felt hot, as if several degrees hotter than normal - he supposed it explained why she was still wearing a short-sleeved shirt when the weather was beginning to slowly turn from scorching sun to wind and clouds. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Getting his own cup, he sat down across from her on the small table, and smiled at her. "There is no real ceremony or specific words you have to follow here. Just speak from your heart, and I'll listen."

She held the mug in the palms of her hands, and stared into its depths for a few moments. Though the mug was a good ceramic one, made for coffee, it still conducted the heat from boiling water well, and he felt sure it would burn her - instead, she held it carefully in her palms as if nurturing a fitful flame. "I'm not a good person," she began in a quiet voice. "I want to learn to be, but I'm afraid that there's blood on my hands that won't ever come off. I worry... I worry that I've spent too long in the dark."

"The fact that you're here says that you're not convinced of that," he told her with an equally quiet voice, and a warm smile. "You've already done the three very most difficult things that there are to do, after all - so, let us say that I'm not convinced either."

Startled, she looked into his eyes, looking for duplicity or clues - but finding neither, she finally asked "What do you mean?" in a bewildered voice.

"Well," he said before taking a sip of his coffee, and sighing happily at the taste. "The very hardest thing to do is to listen to that little voice in you that tells you that you can do better, that you can be better, and not trying to argue it into silence. The second hardest is to admit that the voice within you might be right - and the third most difficult thing is to try to do something about it, even when you have no idea what to do. Am I right?"

She looked at him, a look of surprise on her face for a moment, before she looked back at her coffee and nodded. "I've... done many terrible things. I've hurt people, and killed more. I worry that I've already done too much to make up for," she said quietly.

"Then, the first step that matters is trying, right?" he asked with another smile. "Other people may not see it at first, but sincere effort counts for quite a bit. Show through your actions that you're trying to follow a new path - if you make a mistake, just vow to do better the next time you're in a similar situation. It's often harder to protect than it is to destroy, but far more worth it, in the end."

"What do you mean?" she asked, a curious tilt to her head.

"If you try to take from others, then it lends itself to being in a mindset where you see other people as having things you need, and it makes it much easier to see them as lesser than you," Father Landom explained, as he held his own mug in his hands to warm them. "If you try to help protect what other people value, then you are in a mindset where you recognize that as important - and you'll be able to see what is valuable to them."

The woman closed her eyes, and took a deep, shuddering breath before exhaling slowly. After another moment, she opened her eyes, stating into her coffee once more. "I didn't think it would be quite so simple."

Father Lantom shrugged. "Another way to think of it is that by always going on the offense, it's as if you're constantly trying to prove yourself - to prove that you're not invisible. By defending others instead, you're not worried about proving yourself anymore - you're worried about making sure they're safe."

"You were once something else, weren't you?" the woman asked, a dangerous twinkle in her eyes and an amused smile on her face.

He shrugged with nonchalance. "We all go down many paths in life others provide for us, until we find our own. For some, it takes longer than others - but what matters is that you look."

She closed her eyes, and took a slow, deep breath before opening her eyes again. "Thank you," she said softly, with a warmer smile than before.

"You remind me of someone who used to come into this church all the time," Father Lantom smiled sadly. "He carried the weight of others' sins on his shoulders as his own, in addition to his own - I always wondered how he was able to walk with all that weight on his shoulders. He defended others who could not defend themselves, though - and he gave his life doing it. Ironic that he looked to help others with their burdens so quickly, when he himself was blind."

"I see," the woman said, an odd look appearing on her face for a moment before clearing. "You know, an old friend of mine, Matthew Murdock was recently found alive," she said thoughtfully, "he was helping others when the Midland Circle building collapsed - luckily, someone cared enough to make sure he went to the hospital."

Father Lantom froze in his motion of taking another sip. "Matthew Murdock, you say?" he said, in a deliberately casual voice. "Not the same lawyer who works here in Hell's Kitchen, is it?"

"Oh, do you know him?" the woman asked with a smile. "He's at the memorial hospital here in Hell's Kitchen. I'm sure he'd love to hear from you."

Father Lantom chuckled, even as he took another sip. "Perhaps, but I think he'd also enjoy hearing from you, Elektra."

The woman, Elektra, froze mid-sip, looking at him with a calculating look before finally relaxing with a wry look. "I'd ask if Matthew ever talked about me, but I already know the answer, and that you wouldn't tell me."

"Well, he and I did have a small bet going," Father Lantom said with a smile. "He said Hell would freeze over before you walked into a church. I told him that if he was wrong, he owes me a latte," he said, with a happy sigh. "I think it's time to look into good places to have coffee now."

And that was the first time he ever heard Elektra laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally going to be from Danny's perspective, but his chapter simply wouldn't come out right - mainly because I still don't have his voice right.
> 
> Then today, this scene came to me, and it seemed perfect.


	5. The World's Gentle Fires

Consciousness came to him slowly, as if he were slowly coming to the surface of quicksand. The sounds and smells around him slowly resolved from random chaos into the heartbeat of the world around him. The antiseptic, floor wax, and medication smells were unmistakably that of a hospital. His chest, arms, and legs were wrapped in bandages still, but he was feeling more as if the world made sense.

Well, mostly. Matt had thought for sure he'd die that night under Midland Circle, and at the time, he really didn't care - he could feel the uncertainty coming from Elektra then, despite the rage and bloodlust surrounding her like a cloak. Then, the last thing he knew was the soft caress of her lips, the feel of one of her tears falling onto his cheek as she whispered her apologies. He had said nothing, just held her close as the world fell around them.

The first time he had awoken, he had no idea where he was. Able to hear footsteps and heartbeats, but no voices - even out of what was normal human earshot. He had lain there in silence for more than a day, before he heard the familiar voices of Claire's no-nonsense pragmatism, Colleen's quiet cheerfulness, and Jessica enjoying running sandpaper on people's nerves. He smirked at that - Jessica may be abrasive and truly enjoyed getting a rise out of people, but she had very thoroughly proven herself as an excellent detective, and a good friend over the past few days.

Since then, he had enjoyed being lazy, as much as he'd never admit it to anyone. He spent most of the days and nights sleeping, his body greedily taking all the rest it could, given his normal sleeping habits. His body ached with a regular rhythm in time with his heartbeat, and he simply endured, and slept.

Over the past two days however, he'd had a steady stream of visitors. As embarrassing as some of them were, most of them were actually a relief - and in many ways, an affirmation of life after so much death. He had seen both Luke and Claire yesterday, followed soon after by Danny and Colleen. As strange as the circumstances of their meeting may have been, Matt was very glad he had met people like these, Danny's immaturity sometimes aside.

Jessica and Trish had visited him together earlier today - that had been both wonderful and annoying. Wonderful, because they truly did act like sisters visiting an old friend - Trish, the bright and cheerful one, and Jessica, the sarcastic and cynical one. They balanced one another out hilariously well, and he chuckled many times while they visited.

"So, how did you get injured so badly?" Trish asked him finally. He could feel that she had been trying to be tactful the entire time they were visiting, but it seemed that she couldn't contain the question any longer. "What happened to you?"

"I think some of the building landed on me," Matt said with a wry smile. He may be taking a page from Elektra's book here - it was technically true, but it definitely wasn't the whole truth. Besides - he wasn't sure he was up to talking about the whole situation right now anyway. There were too many unknowns yet, and most of them hurt too much to think about.

He could feel the specific slight air movements made by her shaking her head. "Even blind, you still help other people without even thinking about it. That's amazing."

"Yeah, he can be a real horny bastard about it sometimes, though," Jessica added, the smirk on her face obvious. He couldn't see the twinkle in her eyes, but he knew it was there.

"Jessica, Matt's love life has nothing to do with having a building fall on him," Trish chided her friend/sister.

He next heard Jessica chuckle. "You sure about that?"

"Why, was he trying to save his girlfriend or something?" Trish asked, sceptically.

"I heard a rumor about him trying to save his ex by doing stupid shit. Like, voluntarily trying to get her from a collapsing building," Jessica replied, the smirk even more audible in her voice.

Matt sighed.

"That's a beautiful thing though, Jessica," Trish said, obviously offended on Matt's behalf. "Even if they're not together any longer, he still risked his own life to make sure the woman he still loves is okay. Nothing about that is wrong!"

"Except the part where she's a zombie," Jessica said off-handedly, before taking a sip of whiskey-laden coffee from her cup. "And maybe the part where she has a couple unhealthy fetishes."

"Oh my God," Trish said, and Matt could hear and feel the air movements that signified her putting her head into her hands, before raising her head and addressing him directly. "Matt, I'm so sorry - we didn't come to see you so that Jessica here could talk shit about your ex."

"It's fine," Matt said with a wry smile. He had to admit that shit-talking was both an art and a skill, one that Jessica devoted much of her waking life to perfecting. Something like a da Vinci when it came to offending people. "She and I had a pretty... dramatic relationship."

"Shit," Trish cursed. "I have to run back to the office. Jessica, will you be okay for getting back?"

"Yeah Trish, I'll be fine," Jessica said offhandedly, but Matt could feel the warm smile from her. Though Jessica didn't, and probably would never say the words, she did care deeply about a certain few. "Go make idiots cry on air some more - that made my entire day last time."

Matt heard the two embrace in a hug, even as Trish chuckled. "I'll do my best," she said to her friend. Turning to Matt, she gave him another warm smile. "Matt, I hope you feel better soon. It was wonderful to meet you, and next time, I hope it's under better circumstances."

At this, Matt laughed quietly. "Yeah, me too. It was an honor to meet you too, Trish."

After hearing her footsteps leave the room, and fade into the background noise of the people in the hallway, Jessica sat in the chair next to his bed. "Speaking of, can I ask you some embarrassing and personal questions about your ex?"

Running his hand over his still-bandaged face, Matt sighed. "Sure."

"Awesome," Jessica said, taking another sip of her whiskey-infused coffee. Technically though, there was enough whiskey in it that it was more coffee-flavored whiskey. He suspected that she'd already "refreshed" it at least once. "So, why would she offer to train someone to fight?"

Matt stopped mid-motion, tilting his head to the side curiously. He ran the question through his mind a few times, but it still didn't quite make sense. "I don't know," he said finally. "She had never had any students - or at least, she didn't tell me about them if she did. She was always... busy," he said with a slight grimace.

"Huh," Jessica said, taking another sip. "I caught her on a rooftop overlooking your room the other night. She said she was watching over you, and then gave me some bullshit about wanting me to be her student after I tried to punch her a few times."

Matt's lips twitched at that, but then he ran the scenario through his mind. "Did she attack you at all?"

"No," Jessica said thoughtfully. "I really thought she would - it's part of why I was trying to piss her off, so she'd slip up and we could bring her down again."

"And... instead of attacking you at all, she... offered to train you?" Matt asked slowly. This didn't sound like her.

"Well, the bitch did say that watching me punch was physically painful," she grumbled, taking another sip. "I didn't hear her talk shit when I popped her in the jaw, though."

At this, Matt chuckled - that did sound like her. "You know, her first teacher was Stick - same as me," he said with a smile that widened into a smirk. "And she was next taught by the Hand. You could probably do worse."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Jessica sighed. "This is going to be some wax on, wax off bullshit isn't it?"

"I'm more impressed that you're actually thinking about it," Matt replied with a smile.

"And you don't see a problem with this?" Jessica asked him, skepticism lacing her words.

Matt shrugged as best he could, laying as he was in a hospital bed. "She'd be one of the few that could help you learn to use your strength properly. It might also give her a purpose for something other than..." he trailed off for a moment, not sure how to word what he wanted to say.

"...Death, mayhem, stabbing, and destruction?" Jessica finished for him.

"Yeah, those," Matt said with a smirk.

"Don't know about that, but she did tell me that she managed to get the land Midland Circle was built on," Jessica said thoughtfully.

The smile vanished from Matt's face. "You're telling me that she now owns that land, and the underground area beneath it?"

"Yeah," Jessica said. "She said she wanted to build a coffee shop there."

Feeling as if someone had hit him hard enough that reality was skewed, Matt simply tried to process that for a minute, and found that he couldn't. "A coffee shop?" he repeated dumbly. "But that... that doesn't..."

"She already has a name picked out," Jessica added before taking another sip, the smirk on her face a physical presence he could feel.

Matt waited a few seconds, and when she didn't volunteer, he had to ask. "So... what's the name she picked?"

"She wanted it to be a surprise. She wanted to see the look on your face when you found out," Jessica grinned at him.

"First you ask me if you should trust her to be your fighting instructor, and now I find out you're keeping one of her secrets?" Matt asked incredulously.

"Oh, calm your pointy red tits Beelzebub, it's nothing bad," Jessica snorted, and then chuckled. "In fact, it's even funnier now that you told me about Stick."

"Yeah," Matt said, with thoughtful silence. He had many mixed feelings about his old teacher, but watching Elektra kill him still brought a lump to his throat.

"I'm sorry about Stick - I shouldn't have brought it up," Jessica said uncomfortably.

Matt paused a moment. "Wait, did you actually apologize for something?" he asked, shocked.

"Oh, fuck you Matt. I hope you get gored by one of your horns," Jessica retorted. "Alright, I have to head back to work. Unlike some people, I didn't manage to turn a disaster into a vacation from work."

Matt couldn't help it - he chuckled again. "I knew you'd be able to sniff out my evil plan. And I would've gotten away with it, if it hadn't been for you damn kids," he said, even raising a fist in the air to shake it at her.

Jessica laughed at that. "Fuck off, Murdock. I hope you rest up and become a slightly less full of shit lawyer," she said with a chuckle, before walking out.

Nestling himself into the mostly-comfortable hospital bed, Matt simply allowed himself to relax. A few minutes later however, the feel of another visitor brought him out of his light sleep, just before a soft knock sounded on his door. The figure felt older, moving more slowly, but more at peace with the world than most. Sure enough, he next heard Father Lantom's voice. "Matthew? Am I disturbing you?"

"Not at all, Father," Matt said with a tired smile. "It's good to hear your voice. How are you, and how is the church?"

"Better than one of my wayward flock, it seems," Father Lantom answered with a smile, as he walked into the room, and sat down on the chair next to Matt's bed. "I heard only last night that your ticket to Heaven had apparently been delayed, and rerouted," he elaborated, the smile on his face a presence that Matt could feel.

"I feel very lucky," Matt said softly. "I wasn't sure I was going to make it that night."

"I met the one who saved you, you know," Father Lantom smiled at him. "Which reminds me, Matthew - you owe me a latte."

Matt's face twisted in confusion. "What?" he asked after a moment. "What do you mean? And why do I owe you a latte?"

"First, the church had an unusual visitor last night," said Father Lantom, as he made himself more comfortable on the chair. "A certain woman that a certain someone had said quite a bit about over the years. A certain woman that said she'd never been in a church before."

His head felt fuzzy still, and he couldn't for the life of him think of who it might be. Then, what Father Lantom said earlier hit him. "Wait, Elektra was at your church?" Matt said incredulously.

"I think she was trying to find what she knows you found there," Father Lantom replied gently. "I don't think she chose the church at random, Matthew."

It was taking Matt a while to process the idea of Elektra voluntarily being in any kind of place thought of as holy by anyone, and still couldn't. "So, was she there to get baptized?"

Father Lantom laughed at that. "I truly doubt she'd be the type, Matthew. No, it was enough that she simply sought someone to be a listening ear. I don't know what happened with her Matthew, but she had the same survivor's guilt you had."

There were so many things Matt wanted to say, but in the end, he wasn't sure it would help. "Her own life took a turn for the very dramatic a few months ago," Matt said slowly.

He could feel the air movements as Father Lantom nodded. "Matthew, wasn't this the woman you mourned? The one who died?"

Matt took a deep, shuddering breath. "Yeah. She was purposefully brought back to become a weapon for a war in the shadows."

However, he could also feel the look of shock on Father Lantom's face. "Matthew, her resurrection did not seem to be one of Heaven's make, but for someone thought of as a weapon in the shadows, she seemed terrified of never having light again."

That he did not expect. "I guess this explains why I owe you a latte," Matt said finally, with a small smile.

"Telling her about that got her to laugh," Father Lantom said with a kind smile. "She seemed concerned that she would be offending someone by accepting a humble coffee from an old monk."

Matt chuckled at that. "Getting that coffee machine was one of your better ideas, Father."

"I'm just glad if it helps people to unburden their hearts, and not worry so much about ceremony and wording," Father Lantom replied.

"I'm... sorry nobody else told you, Father," Matt said, feeling ashamed. "I should have made sure..."

Father Lantom interrupted him. "Oh, don't fall into guilt Matthew - there isn't room enough on your bed for both you and your guilt," he said with a chuckle. "I found out from someone I wanted to meet anyway, from all the times you told me about her. And," he added with a note of mischief in his voice, "it seems that you told her about me as much as you told me about her."

"What do you mean?" Matt asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"As I said Matthew, she didn't come to my church on accident, or at random," he said with another smile. "Rest, Matthew. Be good to yourself while you're here."

"I'll try, Father," Matt said with a wry smile. "I'll try to save the guilt for after I get home."

"That's at least a start," Father Lantom laughed. "I'll see myself out. You are still in my prayers, Matthew," he said before patting Matt's shoulder, and walking out.

He lay there, as he thought furiously. Something was definitely happening with Elektra, and the little signs he kept hearing about didn't make sense, even when mixed together in his mind's eye.

Distantly, he heard the overhead notification that visitor's hours were now over, as the lights dimmed slightly, artificially suggesting night within the hospital. Nestling more into the sheets and blankets, Matt relaxed, and began slow breathing techniques to let himself fall asleep more easily.

A light knock sounded on the door, as a nurse in full scrubs walked in. "Time for your medicine, Matthew."

Every sense of his snapped fully awake at the sound of a rich, smoky woman's voice with an upper-class English accent. Sure enough, he felt the subtle bulge in reality where she stood - but this time at least, he could hear her breathing, but he couldn't localize where she was in the room. "E- Elektra?"

He felt a pair of warm, almost hot lips press gently against his forehead, and heard the soft clink of a glass vase being set onto the table next to his bed. "I can't stay long," she said softly, pulling the nurse's breathing mask back up over her mouth and nose. "But I... wanted to tell you that I'm so sorry, Matthew. For Stick, for... everything."

Though his heart still hurt thinking about everything involved, her presence was... different now. Still similar, but definitely undergoing some shifts. He couldn't describe it any more specifically than that, other than there being a feeling of vibrancy that hadn't been present before. "I forgive you," he said with a tired smile. "But, you'll also have to forgive yourself."

"That will be more difficult," she said, a note of humor in her voice. "Rest easy, Matthew. We can have our long-overdue talk once you're not wearing hospital scrubs with teddy bears on them. The sight actually offends what little I remember of my childhood."

"Seriously?" he asked with a chuckle. "They gave me the ones with teddy bears?"

"The thanks we give to anonymous heroes who risk their lives," she said with a sigh, shaking her head. "It's atrocious."

He laughed at that. "Somehow, I think I and my dignity will survive."

"Hmm," she replied, the doubt obvious in her reply. "I'll see. Rest well in the meantime Matthew," she said softly, pressing her lips once again to his forehead.

Then, her presence seemed to disappear. By concentrating, he could feel the air currents of her movement out of the room he was staying in, but she had once again cloaked her breathing.

However, there was a new scent in the air. Sniffing carefully, he realized the smell was coming from the glass vase she had left behind. 

In the glass vase was a small bunch of orchids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a while to get right - being a visual person, there are lots of ways we use visual description without even realizing it, and I had to rewrite several sections where I accidentally put in what something looked like.
> 
> And... yeah. The title is a play on words about Matt's world on fire.


	6. Crimson, Black, Gold

Colleen was seated, motionless, in the center of her dojo's floor mats in the early morning sun. She was sitting in seiza position, her feet tucked beneath her, with her sheathed blade in her lap. Her breathing was kept slow and deep, her eyes closed.

She brought herself to full attention as she heard the rapid footsteps approaching the door, opening her eyes just as Danny burst into the room like he was being chased by wolves. "Colleen!" he called, agitation and excitement woven in his tension. "She's on the move. We have to go, now!"

Giving him a single nod, Colleen leapt to her feet from her seated position while holding her sheathed sword in her left hand, and immediately grabbed her jacket from the wall before following Danny out to the car. "What happened?"

Getting in the passenger seat of the car, Danny's leg bounced up and down with nervous energy as Colleen got in the driver's seat, and drove to the place they knew Elektra was staying. "I don't know for sure, but I know I've been feeling some weird currents from her over the past few days," Danny said, staring out the window as he thought.

"So..." Colleen prompted him, as she turned down the correct back streets to get to the abandoned loft Elektra was staying in currently. "What do you mean?"

"Before, it was like she was just this... shaded patch of reality shaped like a person, like her very being was eating even the light around her," Danny said, rubbing his chin as he thought. "Over the past two or three days though, I've been feeling her try to channel the same kind of thing I was taught in Kun Lun. It was subtle, but against the... the shadow of what she normally is, it stood out. It stood out really, really strongly. And today, she rented a car, and was packing things into it when I ran back."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Colleen pursed her lips as she thought. "Did you notice anything else?"

"Yeah," Danny said, almost absently. "She was practicing the slow-movement energy forms, similar to the ones I learned in Kun Lun to channel and focus my chi. It was when she was doing those that the... the sunlight stood out against the shadow the most."

"She offered to be Jessica's teacher two days ago, Jessica said," Colleen said slowly, trying furiously to think this through and figure out the puzzle before her. "and you know she visited Matt's church yesterday - we followed her," she said, sighing after a moment. "None of this really sense."

"I don't know," Danny said, narrowing his eyes, "But this is the Black Sky we're talking about here. Matt's feelings aside, she's the avatar of the Hand's desire to dominate and cut apart the entire world. We can't afford to get suckered in by whatever games she might be playing."

Colleen was quiet for a moment. "Danny, this might be more complicated than that. We have to keep our eyes open," she said, looking at him meaningfully as she parked the car. "Come on."

"Yeah," Danny said with a sigh, getting out of the car along with Colleen, and racing along with her to the side of the old building, ascending the one across the street from it for a proper vantage point. Soon enough, they were rewarded by the sight of Elektra, wearing what looked like older exercise clothes, carrying a large box of papers out to the rental car, placing them carefully in the back seat, and returning inside.

Colleen observed this with squinted eyes. "Kind of hard to do evil with that much paperwork," she remarked with a smirk. "Unless she suddenly started being an evil banker or something."

Danny glared at her, but returned his attention to the building across the street once more. After only another moment, Elektra gracefully moved out of the building, wearing a light grey jacket, and moved to the driver's seat of the car. 

"Here we go," he said, ducking backward to stay out of view before darting down the side of the building. Colleen was only a heartbeat behind him, leaping lightly from the building's railings to walls to streetlight to ground to land lightly on her feet. They both raced to the car, and dove in, Colleen only barely starting the car before Elektra's car was turning the corner.

However, it turned out to be much less of a chase than either expected. Elektra seemed to drive a bit faster than the speed limit, but she wasn't racing - and her direction was heading out of the city.

An hour later, both were feeling a bit more confused, as Elektra's car wasn't headed to an airport - of any size. Instead, both her car and theirs passed a sign, indicating Niagara Falls were only 100 miles away.

"She might be headed to the dam, or an electrical station," Danny said anxiously. "She might be trying to cut power to half the state!"

Colleen gave him a sceptical glance before returning her eyes to the road. "The last turnoff to reach the dam was last exit, Danny," she said simply. "The one we passed five minutes ago."

Danny slumped in the passenger seat of the car. "This doesn't make any sense."

"Well," Colleen replied with a smirk, "let's think this through. What evil could she be planning that involves a big box of papers, yoga pants, and the Niagara Falls?"

Scowling now, Danny crossed his arms. "This isn't funny, Colleen. This is Elektra we're talking about here. This is exactly the kind of person who'll come at you sideways, and only when you blink."

"She might just be going camping, Danny," Colleen said patiently. "With... a whole lot of paperwork, granted, but she could just be trying to relax and find herself after everything that happened. She did die and get brought back to life by the Hand, and turned into Alexandra's personal attack dog, from everything you told me."

"Let's not forget that she killed Alexandra the moment she could," Danny said, glaring out at the car ahead of them. "She killed Stick. She also bought the land Midland Circle stood on, and that means she has access to that underground chapter and all those dragon bones. I'm pretty sure she's just pretending to be nice and fluffy before stabbing everyone."

"And her evil plan for world domination involves a coffee shop?" Colleen asked him in disbelief. "And a big box of old papers?"

Danny shook his head, frustrated. "She's planning something, I'm sure of it. I just... have no idea what."

The rental car ahead of them began to slow, the car's blinker turning on as it exited from the freeway. Colleen followed it, keeping another car between her car and Elektra's rental car when she could. However, both could read the signs on the exit ramp. "Oh, look!" Colleen said, with feigned surprise. "The Niagara Falls campgrounds," she said, nodding sagely. "The ideal place for evil deeds."

Danny glared at her, which only made Colleen smirk as she kept following the rental car ahead of them. "Colleen, why aren't you taking this as seriously as I am? This is the most powerful weapon the Hand ever produced, now working as a free agent. From what Matt told us before, she was never a good person. He said he saw it, but he also said he was in love with her, so I don't think we can really trust his judgement here."

"You trusted his judgement when he asked you to look after Hell's Kitchen, didn't you?" Colleen asked, raising an eyebrow. "Look Danny, I get why we should be concerned. I do. But everything she's been doing since then has... matched someone trying to find themselves, not someone trying to leap right back into evil deeds," she said, lifting a hand from the steering wheel to gesture with emphasis, before giving him a smirk. "She doesn't even have a proper moustache to twirl as she kicks a puppy - it's the wrong image."

Sighing, Danny slumped more into the passenger seat of the car, and glared out the windshield. "She has the right accent though."

"Oh, so everyone with a pish-tosh English accent is evil, now?" Colleen laughed.

"Well, yeah," Danny said. "I mean, look at the movie we saw just last night..."

"You mean the Bond movie?" Colleen asked, scepticism heavily weighing on her words before she sighed. "Come on, Danny."

Scowling in annoyance, Danny crossed his arms and resumed glaring out the windshield of the car. Soon enough though, he sat up in attention as they both saw the rental car ahead of them turn down the road leading to the campgrounds.

Following it carefully, Colleen parked in another parking lot. Without a word between them, she and Danny raced quietly from their car to follow Elektra into the preserved wilds.

After about twenty minutes of following her, Colleen and Danny had to zip their jackets up, due to the chill in the air. Curiously though, Elektra was still wearing just a black tank top and black yoga pants, and seemed to show no sign of being cold. She continued walking until she reached a grassy plain surrounded by evergreen trees. She walked to the center of the grassy plain, set down the large cardboard box of papers, and sat down cross-legged next to it, reading a few pages.

Watching from the trees, Colleen and Danny both narrowed their eyes at the sight of Elektra simply reading through what looked like old papers, some so old they had yellowed with age. After a few minutes though, they saw her take a deep breath, set down the papers, and get to her feet.

She took a relaxed stance, and began moving with exaggerated slowness. Her arms and hands moved gracefully like twin windmills in slow, gentle spirals, exhaling as her hands stretched out, and inhaling as she brought her hands back in for another rotation.

Danny narrowed his eyes. He could feel the subtle golden sparks within Elektra from the life-nurturing energy similar to the one he channeled. They weren't very strong, but they stood out very starkly against the shifting and thick shadows that was what he remembered of how she felt energetically. The golden sparks weren't visible to the naked eye, but they circulated within her form, seeming to slowly gain strength and speed as they did. After only a few minutes, it was as if she were circulating molten gold within her being.

However, he saw the shadows within her begin to convulse, and become thicker still. He saw Elektra had opened her eyes at this point, and had her eyebrows narrowed, but she wasn't stopping. Still moving with the same slow, gentle movements, she looked as if she were having to concentrate more and more to hold the pattern.

Suddenly, she shuddered, and slumped to the ground as if she were a puppet with her strings suddenly sliced off, unmoving. They counted a full minute at least of her laying on the ground, not even breathing.

"What the..." he heard Colleen say quietly. Just as they were about to leave their hidden spot to see what had happened to her, they saw her shudder, and then convulse.

That lent them both speed, as they raced out of the trees toward her, but then skidded to a stop as they saw her suddenly sit up, and begin to vomit - violently and continuously. Worse yet, what she was throwing up looked like a thick, black tar with streaks of blood. What she was throwing up didn't simply pool in front of her, though - it began to move on its own, collecting together like droplets of mercury.

Even after two or three minutes, she was still vomiting violently, but now whatever it was that she was throwing up was collecting into a shape in front of her. To their horror, they saw it begin to collect into the bones of a large, inhuman being, and begin to cover it over with looked like the same black, red-streaked tar Elektra was even now still throwing up.

It seemed that she was helpless to do anything else, and it seemed Danny and Colleen were just as frozen in their shock. Danny's eyes widened as he began to recognize the creature, but it didn't look anything like the one he had encountered in Kun Lun. Danny felt his blood growing cold, and his eyes widening. "Colleen," he said in a low, urgent voice, "I think that's a dragon."

As if to prove his words, the thick black and red tar-like liquid had collected into the shape of a four-limbed, winged being with a tail, and long neck. The difference was that this one appeared to be a skeleton that was bleached white, with the black and red substance acting as its skin. Nothing was seen in eye sockets of its skull, but the unnatural darkness there suggested that it didn't need any.

Elektra had collapsed onto her chest once she was finished vomiting, and didn't seem to be moving.

Worse yet, the being spoke in a whispering, but rough voice that sounded as if someone had tried to swallow ground glass. "It is as I told you before. You will never be free. Your fate was to be my puppet - and like a child, you fight against your fate. You are a failure, and I will watch as you die, and turn to dust. I'll find another host to carry on my work - one that won't constantly fight against me like a stubborn fool. Now do you see how futile your rebellion is?"

To their shock, they saw Elektra's left arm slowly pull back toward her body, her hand plant against the ground, and she began to slowly push herself up.

"You should have simply let yourself die, and let your memories go," the being growled at her, seemingly annoyed that she was moving at all. "That life of yours was over long ago. I have eaten your memories of it, and you cannot have them back."

Elektra's right arm joined her left, and pulled back to help her slowly push herself up, and pull herself from laying down to sitting on one knee, as her shoulders heaved with effort.

The being growled at her angrily, before making a hissing noise that sounded like laughter. "What gave you all of your strength and power was me, and I no longer grant you my power. Your body is running on empty, your heart stilled. You will fall down dead for the second time within a few minutes, once your body runs out of the leftover power I've granted you, and your heart stops for eternity. Accept your fate as a failure, and die."

Elektra however had pressed herself painfully to get to her feet, facing it directly, though her stance spoke volumes of her pain and exhaustion. "You will never again harm another child," she said with a shaking voice, as she drew her sai. "And a lot can happen in a few minutes."

To everyone's shock, Elektra took a deep breath, and charged directly at it. She narrowly dodged being cut in half by its claws, but still had her arm slashed open to the bone. Nonetheless, she continued her motion and stabbed both of her sai directly into its throat.

It laughed at her, and slapped her away hard enough for her to bounce against the ground twice before she came to a stop, heavy slash marks showing on her side and chest. "I do not have blood or flesh like the weak life I once was," it wheezed with laughter. "Your usual tricks are useless against me. Accept your fate as a failed puppet, and die with your strings cut!"

Favoring the wound on her shoulder as she got back up to her feet, Elektra dropped the sai on the ground, and she took a stance. "So, I must use my bare hands, then," she said, before walking toward it.

At this point, Colleen and Danny ran out of the treeline, intent on helping her. To their surprise however, she put up a hand to them, but didn't take her eyes off the thing in front of her. "This is my fight. Don't attack it unless I fail."

Colleen nodded, even though she knew Elektra couldn't see it. "Take your honor back," she said to her. "and make that thing pay for trying to take it."

Danny said nothing, but didn't charge forward at it either. Obviously frustrated, he clenched his hands before relaxing them once more, and took a deep breath.

Satisfied, Elektra began walking once more toward the being in front of her. "You tried to take my memories," she said in a low voice. "You tried to devour who I am."

"You are not unique," the being said disdainfully. "You are only the host who was given to me as a full adult, instead of a child. Children are easier to mold into weapons than stubborn and headstrong enemies of the Hand."

Elektra kept walking. Her stride had changed from unsteady, to a stalking and angry stride that promised terrible things, written in a contract and signed with blood. "Fitting then, since that time is over now," she said, before leaping to attack.

It swung a claw at her, and she darted forward to parry the strike with her forearm, ignoring the claws that sliced open her other shoulder, and dodging the thing's hind claws that sought to rip apart her legs. Reaching forward, she grasped its upper arm with her right, and its wrist with her left hand. Simultaneously, she twisted in opposite directions, and they all heard it scream as they heard a muffled crunch.

A moment later, Elektra flung its right arm, still covered with the strange, sickly reddish-black tar-like substance onto the grass. Without pausing for effect, she darted forward again. It tried to dodge out of the way, but her outstretched hand managed to grab onto the edge of one of its wings. Grimly pulling herself toward it, Elektra ripped the wing off with one smooth motion. Throwing it behind her onto the grass, she looked at the being once more. "Now, you can't run away," she said in a cold voice.

It screamed, and leapt to slash at her with its remaining arm, trying to gut her with its hind claws. She darted into its reach - past its remaining claw, between its legs, and struck it in the chest as hard as she could. She was rewarded with a loud, echoing crack, matched only in volume by the being's ragged scream.

Grimly, she moved her other hand to its chest, and with both hands, ripped open the ribcage. It tried to dodge away, to move back and out of her grip, but she hung on, and kept pulling. With another crunching noise that made Colleen and Danny both cringe, she flung the right side of its ribcage out onto the grass, and reached into its chest.

It gave a warbling scream that suddenly stopped mid-note. Elektra seemed to be busy within its chest for a few more moments, before stepping back. She seemed to be holding a large lump of blackened and dessicated flesh, looking down on it with an unreadable expression.

They saw her eyes widen, and they saw her take a single step - then, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed onto the ground once more.

They looked at one another, and then raced out from their spots toward her. Absently, Colleen saw that the being's body, and dismembered parts strewn on the grass was beginning to crumble and blacken into ash. 

Elektra lay on the ground, unmoving - blood and the blackish-red tar covered the front of her body, and the left side of her face. Strangely, it looked like the large lump of dead flesh she had torn from the being's chest was beginning to rapidly dissolve as well, so quickly that it had completely finished by the time they reached her unmoving body.

"No pulse," Colleen said, checking her wrist before checking her chest and nose. "No breathing, either," she said, a worried expression on her face. "Danny, do we have any idea what to do? Or even what's going on with her?"

Danny looked torn between being extremely frustrated and confused. "I don't have any idea," he said, running his fingers roughly through his hair in his annoyance. "I know we can't take her to a hospital, that's just asking for problems."

"We need to take her to Claire, and right now," Colleen said to Danny. "You grab her, I'll grab the box she was carrying."

"What about her rental car?" Danny asked.

"Not the time, Danny!" Colleen shouted, as she grabbed the box, and lifted it with a grunt - it was far heavier than it looked. She moved rapidly to the car, hearing Danny behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made only minor edits to this chapter - major edits are coming for the next two.
> 
> My thanks to my readers fadedtoblue and the guest lois for your comments - the thoughts and comments from both of you helped quite a bit for deciding the proper tone for this story, and how Elektra's tale should unfold.


	7. The Tending of Weapons

As worried as he was right now, Danny was becoming fully aware of the word "irony."

Which in and of itself seemed to be a pun the universe apparently also thought was hilarious, but Danny wasn't in the mood. After all, it wasn't every day that the avatar of the enemy he learned to fight since he was twelve was laying unconscious in the back seat of his girlfriend's car. 

He shook his head, even as he looked at the view outside of Colleen's car racing by. He was so sure this morning that he'd finally caught his nemesis doing something evil, and by the late morning, he wasn't at all sure of that. His right foot began to tap in his impatience - the papers she was carrying were in the trunk of Colleen's car, so trying to read any of them wasn't an option right now.

Sighing, he took a glance at Elektra - the Hand's demon that he had truly grown to hate in a very short amount of time. Right now, she just seemed to be a wounded woman, with large gashes through both of her shoulders, and the various other claw marks on her stomach and sides collectively made her seem... smaller than he remembered.

That night in the cavern under Midland Circle had only increased his hatred of her, because he figured out during their fight that she was the one that he had pursued in Cambodia - the way she dodged and flowed around his strikes and attacks had made that very clear. That she would then try to pull the "we're not so different" tact with him after killing Alexandra pretty much cemented her status as "bad person" in his mind. That she had twisted Matt's mind into thinking that staying under a collapsing building was somehow a good idea only helped highlight that.

And yet, here she was now. Danny had to admit to himself that since the Midland Circle building fell, she hadn't been acting the same - for the most part, he simply chalked it up to her trying to pull something else nefarious and evil. Given her recent history, he felt completely justified in that. But, what that... thing had said to her in the clearing was making him doubt. What if she had been a puppet all along, and had been fighting it every step of the way?

It didn't excuse the things she did necessarily, but it at the very least explained them.

Colleen's voice shouted at him made him jump in his seat. "Hey, Danny!" 

He looked at her, affronted for a moment. "Did you have to shout?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I was trying to get your attention for the past few minutes. Your mind was in the clouds."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking about this whole thing. What's up?"

"Well," she said with a wry look. "We should probably give Claire some warning. Would you mind?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, pulling his new smartphone from his pocket. He'd just gotten it yesterday, and was still very proud of how shiny and futuristic it seemed, and he couldn't help but smile slightly as he used it to call Claire. 

It rang three times before she picked up. "This is Claire," she said in greeting, and he could hear the stress in her voice.

He cringed slightly - the thought of adding to a stressful day of hers didn't sit well with him, despite it's importance. "Hey Claire, it's Danny. I kind of have an emergency."

"People don't 'kind of' have emergencies Danny, that's like being a little bit pregnant," he heard her sigh. "What happened?"

"Um," he said, because he really wasn't sure how to explain it. "Colleen and I have Elektra. We think she's in a coma."

He heard her take a deep breath. "Okay," he heard her say with forced patience, "Why do you and Colleen have Elektra, and why is she in a coma?"

Danny scratched the back of his head embarrassedly. "We followed her from the abandoned loft she'd apparently been living in since... things happened, since she had rented a car and seemed to be taking a trip. She drove out to the Niagara Falls campgrounds, and... things got weird. Since then, she hasn't breathed or moved, and neither Colleen or I could feel a heartbeat."

He heard another, longer sigh from the other end of the phone. "I know I'm going go regret asking, but give me the short version of the 'things got weird' part, Danny."

Danny closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She uh... threw up a dragon, killed it, and then collapsed," he said tiredly.

There was a silence from the other end of the phone for a moment, during which he could almost see the combination of confused and annoyed on her face. "Bring her to... hang on," she said, and Danny heard what sounded like muffled voices having a conversation for a few moments. Soon enough though, she replied. "Bring her to Pop's old barbershop in Harlem. Luke and I will meet you there."

Danny blinked. "Wait, where? I uh... I haven't been to Harlem much," he said, embarrassed.

"Oh for... here Luke, you tell him. I have to get ready for 'things getting weird,' evidently," he heard her say before he heard muffled noises again.

"Hey, Danny," he heard Luke say. "Claire wants to know first - is she okay otherwise? Any injuries or anything?"

"Heh, yeah," Danny chuckled mirthlessly. "She took some heavy hits from that thing during the fight. She has some massive claw wounds on her shoulders, arms, stomach, and her sides. Oh, it got her right leg, too," he said, looking at the motionless Elektra in the back seat. "Colleen had a first aid kit in the car, and we put bandages on the worst of them, but... we didn't have enough bandages," he said, his jaw clenched.

"Just hang in there Danny," he heard Luke say sympathetically. "It's not hard to get to Pop's old stop - I'll direct you both. Put me on speaker, okay?"

"Okay," Danny said, breathing a sigh of relief. It was really good to have calm friends to rely on, he decided, as he changed the call to go through speakerphone instead.

With Luke's voice guiding them from his phone, Colleen found the right route to Pop's old barbershop in question, and parked down the street.

Colleen and Danny looked at one another as she shut off the car. "One step at a time, right?" Danny said, giving her a strained smile.

"Yeah," she said, giving him a wry smile in return. "I'll get that cardboard box she was carrying - it might have some clues."

Danny nodded, and carefully withdrew Elektra's motionless form from the backseat of the car, gathering her in his arms. With a grunt, he slowly stood upright, gently kicking the back door of the car closed behind him. Idly, he noted that Elektra's skin was cold, as if she'd been in a freezer.

Luke opened the door, and held it open for them. "Damn, you weren't joking," Luke said, looking with awe at the wounds on Elektra's form as Danny carried her inside. "What did you say did this?"

"A... dragon, I think," Danny said, gently and carefully setting Elektra's motionless form onto one of the beds. "It wasn't anything like Shao Lao though. It looked... corrupted. Wrong, somehow."

"Let's focus less on the 'who' for now, and focus more on the 'what'," Luke said meaningfully. "What did it say, and what happened afterward?"

"It was... it was saying that it was tired of her being stubborn, and was going to watch as she died," Danny said more quietly. "It told her that it would find another host that wouldn't fight it so much, but only after it watched her fall down dead. She told it that it would never again harm another child, and then attacked it."

Luke shook his head. "How big was it?"

Danny shuddered. "Not as large as I remember Shao Lao being - about a third the size," he said. Catching Luke's look, he added, "a little bigger than a large truck, and it had wings."

Luke nodded at this, looking thoughtful for a moment before turning. "What do you think, Claire?"

"She looks like she pissed off a Siberian tiger," Claire said without looking up. "She's not breathing, and has no heartbeat that I can find. Her core temperature is lower than it should be at sixty five degrees, even if she were dead. And yet, with all that, her hands are both reading as one hundred ten degrees. This... makes no sense at all."

Danny shrugged. "She used her bare hands to rip open the dragon's ribcage and pull its heart out at the end of the fight, before she collapsed. Maybe that did it?"

Claire stopped what she was doing, and simply looked at him for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't even know what to say. Are you finding anything, Colleen?"

For her part, Colleen had been sitting cross-legged in the back of the room, carefully going over the papers in the box. "Yeah," she said, with a small voice. Her hands trembled, and a shaken look appeared on her face as she looked at the others present. "I'll read this out loud - half of this looks to be notes from various Fingers of the Hand right after the Hand was formed," she said, holding the old, yellowed paper up to the light. "'We must have our own test, our own warrior. The dragon we captured is almost ready - soon, its blood and rage will fuel our strongest warriors. His rage and bloodlust will live on through the blood, to last us countless generations. Its name was once Bright Sky, but we have the perfect name for the one who will help us cover the world in shadows, and it will remind it of its place.'"

A look of horror grew on Danny's face. "Shit. That makes all the mentions of the Black Sky look entirely different."

"Yeah," Colleen replied to him softly, looking ill. "I'll keep going. I'll let all of you know if I find something," she said, taking a deep breath before reaching for the next piece of paper in the box.

Danny leaned back against one of the walls, resting his arms over his knees as he closed his eyes. His purpose since had been taken in by the monks was to be wary of the Hand - the eternal enemy of Kun Lun. Now though, the Hand appeared to be shattered. His mind drifted back to what Elektra herself had said to him on that rooftop, a few nights ago: "The castles have all fallen - only the weapons now remain."

He thought more about what else she'd said that night, and it took on a new light in context of what they knew now. He sighed - he just didn't know anymore.

Danny's musing was interrupted by the front door of the shop opening, and a frightened-looking girl looking in. "Luke!" she called. "Some guys are shooting the hell out of the Lennox apartment complex!"

Danny jumped to his feet, but stayed still at Luke's shaking head. "I'll go check this out. Danny, stay here to keep an eye on things - this won't take me long," he said meaningfully, as he followed the girl out into the street. While the door was open, Danny could hear the sounds of many automatic weapons in the distance, and shook his head. "Is Harlem like this usually?"

Claire shook her head, but didn't look up from carefully examining Elektra. "Not even close. This is someone trying something stupid, especially with Luke here."

Nodding at this, Danny began to pace along the back wall of the old shop. He took a few slow, deep breaths to focus his mind, as he'd been taught - and tried to let his mind think through this puzzle. He and Colleen had tailed her over the past few days, and they'd been pretty quiet, he'd thought. Then again, he thought as he cursed himself for ten kinds of a fool, they were tailing someone who had been trained to do so without being seen. Elektra had probably been onto them since the first night.

But, if that were true, what did that mean? She'd given them both the slip once or twice, but they'd always managed to find her again within an hour. If she'd known the entire time she was being followed, did that mean that those few times they'd lost her were intentional on her part? To do something without them seeing?

Then again, that's what they had both thought when they'd managed to track her to Matt's church. Danny very clearly remembered the feeling of his heart in his mouth, utterly terrified at the thought that Elektra would assassinate Matt's old priest. And then, the two of them walked out the front door of the church, with Elektra's hands still cradling a steaming mug - coffee, from the smell. She'd laughed quietly at something Father Lantom had said, nodded to him with a smile, and walked away.

He and Colleen were both completely perplexed by this. Father Lantom had been less than helpful, saying that what he and Elektra had talked about was between them, and them alone. He did say that they had nothing to worry about with her. This didn't at all reassure Danny, since for all he knew she had drugged Father Lantom, but they'd agreed for the moment to let it go.

Running his hands through his messy hair, Danny sighed again. This just didn't make sense.

His musing was interrupted however by the front door to the shop being engulfed in a burst of fire and shattering glass. Once he was over his shock, Danny ran to the front of the store, intent on being out in front of whatever was coming. He was not disappointed at all, since he saw four men armed with assault rifles jogging down the steps. His foot flashing out, he kicked the ankle of the man in front, forcing him to stumble and fall down the steps. Lashing out with a second, he caused the man in the back of the four lose his balance, and tumble onto the other three, pushing all four to collapse down the steps in an ungainly heap.

His smugness was interrupted however by the sight of more armed men coming in through the back door. Colleen darted toward them without hesitation. Her katana seemed to leap out of its sheath and slash out to cut a man's gun in half while he was still drawing it, with how fast she struck. Danny smirked at this, even as the men down the steps in front of the shop were getting to their feet.

With rapid strikes of his feet and hands, the four men were knocked out before they could fully get back to their feet. Glancing over his shoulder, he looked just in time to see Colleen kick a man in the chest, and then jump forward to kick him across the jaw, sending him to the floor in an unconscious heap. Even better, he saw that this man had been the last one.

"So," he started hesitantly, "anyone know what that was all about?"

As if in answer, gunfire erupted outside, and the building immediately began to shake. Danny could hear the bullets striking the sides of the building in an unending stream, and could see the building rapidly beginning to disintegrate. Claire had pulled Elektra to the floor, and was using the bed above them as a makeshift shelter, but that shelter would not protect against bullets.

With dismay, he actually saw the walls begin to crack, and almost immediately afterward, bullets were flying through one wall and out the other, right over his head. This kept up for what seemed like an eternity, and then suddenly, they all stopped at once.

His ears ringing from the sudden quiet, Danny looked around, working his jaw a few times to clear his ears. A moment after he did, he heard Madame Gao's voice coming from above them - she must be standing on the street looking down into the shop, Danny realized. "There's no need for further violence today, this neighborhood has surely seen enough of that," she said in a kindly voice, her voice carrying nonetheless clearly down to them.

Danny's eyebrows furrowed, as he looked toward the front of the shop, now simply a mass of broken glass and twisted metal. She continued after a moment, as he knew she would. "All we want is what belongs to us anyway - surely you can understand. The Black Sky has been nothing but trouble for New York, and she brings nothing but trouble to you now. I wish to help her, and I believe I can help her to find meaning in her existence. Just hand her over, Daniel - I'll even ensure that this old building is remade, better than before. Consider it a gift, and my apologies for your inconvenience."

Looking with disbelief at the mass of bullet holes and shredded plaster, and again at the destroyed shopfront, Danny gave a disbelieving laugh. "You call this 'inconvenience', Gao?"

"A necessary precaution," Madame Gao replied mildly. "If only this world were a better one, so that violence would not be needed," she said, before sighing. "Nonetheless, we must work within the means we have at our disposal, to ensure that our purpose is fulfilled. The Black Sky is dangerous, a weapon crafted of human form, a relic of a more brutal time. Much like leftover bombs from wars, Daniel, we must dispose of this weapon properly, or it may hurt someone else."

While she was speaking, and Danny was listening with half an ear, he also checked to make sure Claire and Colleen were okay. Thankfully, both were. Claire was obviously very stressed out, but she was focused down on her patient, and trying her best to block out everything else. Colleen was panting lightly for breath, but had already barred the back door of the shop from further entry.

Danny's right hand clenched into a fist, and a yellowish light began to glow within his clenched hand as he looked toward the front of the shop. "And what happens if I decide she's under my protection? What if I tell you that I won't let you take her?"

He heard Claire's quiet gasp from beside him, but he was focused on Madame Gao's reply. "I must say, I am surprised at you, Daniel. Isn't fighting to protect someone who caused such pain and misery somewhat foolhardy? You cannot know her mind, you cannot understand her motives, and she has been twisted and changed from what she was in life into being death's weapon. Surely you can see that she is a danger to those around her?"

His jaw clenched in anger, but he refused to let her mess with his mind again. He could feel the heat that his right hand was giving off, which perfectly matched the anger he felt at this moment. "And your idea of a reasonable and convincing argument involves automatic weapons fire, right? The only thing I'll give you, Gao, is my advice: reconsider your life choices. Maybe shooting up someone's store just to get their attention isn't a friendly gesture."

"Ah, the noble and idealistic advice of the young," Madame Gao replied. "Be reasonable, Daniel. You've put yourself in a position where you're being forced to defend one of your greatest enemies, when you don't have to. You have nothing to lose by giving her up - in fact, you'd be doing yourself and everyone you know a favor by taking such a dangerous weapon off the streets."

"And your hands for such a weapon is safer?" Danny replied, the sarcasm heavy in his voice, even as his right fist clenched even more tightly. He heard Claire gasp again, but his attention was still fixed on Gao.

"Come now, young one," Madame Gao replied with a gently chiding tone in her voice. "Can you even claim to know the great and storied history of the Black Sky? Do you know how it was formed, what its limits are, or more directly - how to properly kill it? With such things that you do not understand, Daniel, it would be foolish to proceed unless you know more about what it is you are dealing with. Wouldn't you say?"

His jaw clenching in anger now along with his right hand, he was just about to reply when he saw rapid movement to his right. He heard a loud gasp for air, as he saw Elektra sitting up, her gaze fixed to the front of the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you read the original version of this chapter, my hope is that having events go down this way will work better.
> 
> You have my humble thanks for reading this far - I welcome any thoughts you may have.


	8. Strikes in Parallel

At first, it was as if she became aware of the world through a long tunnel. Sounds and feelings slowly came to her first, as if from far away. What surprised her was that the first things she could recognize as coherent speech instead of random noise was a conversation between Madame Gao, and Daniel Rand.

"...somewhat foolhardy? You cannot know her mind, you cannot understand her motives, and she has been twisted and changed from what she was in life into being death's weapon. Surely you can see that she is a danger to those around her?" Madame Gao asked.

The world around her didn't feel quite as distant now. Why that was, Elektra didn't know or care at the moment. What was very clear was Gao's intent, and the feeling of something around her that warmed her skin, and felt like it was igniting a fire within her chest. Aches and pains on her shoulders, stomach, sides, and leg began to pulse in time with her heartbeat.

Daniel's reply caught her attention. "And your idea of a reasonable and convincing argument involves automatic weapons fire, right? The only thing I'll give you, Gao, is my advice: reconsider your life choices. Maybe shooting up someone's store just to get their attention isn't a friendly gesture."

Shooting up...? What on Earth had she missed while she was out? And why on Earth was Daniel, her self-avowed eternal enemy, speaking in her defense?

"Ah, the noble and idealistic advice of the young," Madame Gao replied, the condescension in her voice obvious to Elektra's ears. "Be reasonable, Daniel. You've put yourself in a position where you're being forced to defend one of your greatest enemies, when you don't have to. You have nothing to lose by giving her up - in fact, you'd be doing yourself and everyone you know a favor by taking such a dangerous weapon off the streets."

Elektra's jaw clenched, just as she felt a wave of heat wash over her like the crashing wave of an equatorial sea. It felt like it came from above her, and she noted that the world now felt much less far away and indistinct. Another pulse washed over her as she heard Daniel reply, making it feel like the fire within her veins was heating to become napalm.

"And your hands for such a weapon is safer?" Danny replied, the sarcasm heavy in his voice. Directly to her right, Elektra heard a woman gasp, as the same moment that it felt like her heart was pumping liquid fire into her veins.

"Come now, young one," Madame Gao replied, her voice carrying a heavy note of mocking disdain. "Can you even claim to know the great and storied history of the Black Sky? Do you know how it was formed, what its limits are, or more directly - how to properly kill it? With such things that you do not understand, Daniel, it would be foolish to proceed unless you know more about what it is you are dealing with. Wouldn't you say?"

Another wave of heat washed over her, and she felt her heart respond with a burst of pure fire that felt like it would burn her to cinders from the inside out. Her eyes snapped open, and she gasped for long-overdue air. The first thing she saw as her eyes opened and she sat up was Daniel's glowing right hand, directly above her and to the left. Daniel was standing next to her and a woman wearing surgical gloves was sitting next to her at her right. Elektra tensed as she sat up, but noted the extensive bandages around her arms, torso, and right leg.

The mystery of what Daniel was doing, or even if he was aware he was doing it, would have to come later - as would the woman next to her who looked vaguely familiar. Elektra pulled her legs toward her chest, and began to stand.

"Wait!" the woman yelped, the expression on her face a combination of indignation and fear. "You're still very badly wounded, and you need to rest. Lie down, I'll take care of you. Danny and Colleen will take care of that," she said, gesturing with her chin toward the front of the building, which appeared to be freshly-ruined.

Elektra looked at her a moment, seeing in less than a second that the woman's intentions were true - but she was not used to such sentiments being aimed her direction. "He won't be able to handle it alone," Elektra said simply, as she stood with slightly shaking legs to her feet.

The woman looked torn between irritation and concern. "Look, Luke should be back soon. Danny and Colleen are handling this. You look like you lost a fight with a grizzly bear - I can't in good conscience let you exert yourself right now. Just lie back down, okay?"

Elektra's eyes narrowed at her. "Thank you for your concern, but I am not weak."

The woman looked exasperated. "I didn't say you were, but I did say that you look like you got mauled by a bear," she said, before closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Fine, you won't listen to me. Let me check on you afterward, okay?"

Feeling her lips quirk into a small smile, Elektra gave her a single nod. "I can do that," she said, before looking back at the front of the building. Moving with slow, methodical strides, she walked toward the ruined entrance. A pity - she had rather liked it when it was whole. It had an old-world charm that was seldom found now.

Before she had walked even three steps, she saw Daniel next to her on her left, his hand still glowing, giving her a strange look. "I don't need assistance walking, you know," Elektra said to him with a sharp look.

"Obviously," Daniel said with a small smirk. "But you're not the only one with a problem with Madame Gao."

Glancing at him for a moment, Elektra simply shrugged. "Do as you will, then," she said, as she resumed walking toward the entrance.

Madame Gao must have heard or felt something, since while there was the heavy scent of freshly-fired gunpowder from many guns in the air, she hadn't spoken since Elektra had awoken. Well, Elektra thought as she hid a smile, no time like the present.

She felt Gao's presence as she got to the bottom step of the small stairwell in front of the entrance, and stepped on and around the unconscious bodies atop it to reach the street level. The four men were all lying in a heap - Daniel's work, she guessed.

Looking in front of her, she saw Madame Gao, standing perfectly still, her small cane balanced in front of her, held with both hands. She seemed to be examining Elektra with mild curiosity, but her lips were thinning as she continued.

Elektra decided to break the silence first, giving the older woman a questioning look. "Is there a reason you chose the dramatic option to speak with me, Gao?"

The smile had completely disappeared from Gao's face, and she seemed to regard Elektra with something approaching annoyance. "What have you done with the Black Sky?" she asked, with no trace of levity in her voice.

To this, Elektra tilted her head to the side slightly, and smiled at Gao. "After the Black Sky and I met face to face, we found we had several unresolvable differences of opinion. I wanted it to die, it disagreed - and it lost the argument."

"I cannot believe the impetuousness of children," Gao said, shaking her head slowly, her hands clenching her cane more tightly.

"That does sound vexing," Elektra said, nodding with false sympathy to her. "What impetuousness are you referring to from our fallen youth of today?"

"Do you have any comprehension of what you have done?" Gao asked her in a cold voice. "A being thousands of years old, with thousands of years of fighting and operational experience, with thousands of years of memories of facing every trick and trap known to most people, is now dead at your hands."

Elektra raised an eyebrow at Gao for this.

Gao held up a hand. "Do not attempt to give me any of your excuses. You, like a willful child, slew a being much older, and much wiser than you, and you did this out of childish rebellion."

She heard Daniel's scoff from her left, but didn't look. "So, your view is that I should have allowed a being such as that to kill me, and then die knowing it was going to pick out another unlucky child to be its host for a few short years?" Elektra asked, crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes. She wanted to provoke Gao here into making the first mistake, so she added, "It sounds to me more that you didn't know it could die. I can say, with no small amount of personal and professional pride, that I am very, very good at killing. Your inability to properly account for that in your plans is not my problem."

Gao's first external reaction was to narrow her eyes at Elektra, and then her face softened into a smile. "And yet, that same foolhardy impetuousness brought you and the Iron Fist directly to me. Children always do the will of their elders, in the end."

Regarding her calmly, Elektra smiled. "Elders seldom are able to see from new perspectives, which is usually when the wisest of them gracefully retire."

Madame Gao's shoulders seemed to tense for a moment, a scowl appearing on her face as she raised one hand into the air, before letting it drop lightly back atop her other hand, resting on the top of her cane.

Dozens of men, all wearing handkerchiefs over their mouth and noses, seemed to swarm from all around to surround them.

"Go with them, or the woman in there dies," Madame Gao informed them with a smile.

This was followed a moment later by the sight of a man unwillingly flying out the front door, and onto the street, quickly followed by another. "I got Claire and Colleen," both Elektra and Daniel heard Luke say from inside. "Go handle things up there!"

Glancing to her left, Elektra found that Daniel was glancing at her at the same time. As if by unspoken agreement, both of them smirked slightly, and then attacked.

With the mass of people around them, striking an opponent wasn't difficult - not being struck by everyone around them was a bigger challenge. Daniel had evidently decided that they were too close, as his glowing right hand raised up, and then slammed back down to strike the street beneath their feet, causing the pavement to crack under the strike, and the street to shake. Men all around them were flung up into the air from the force, landing in ungainly heaps on the asphalt.

The fire within her chest felt like it was heating up further still, and it felt again as if liquid fire were running through her veins. This time however, everything around her began to slow down. To her perception, everyone appeared to be moving, shouting, and attacking with exaggerated slowness, as if everyone were trying to move through water. Though her own movements were slow as well to her perception, to Elektra, this meant that she didn't have to rush.

Though it was tempting to lose herself in the feelings of move and counter-move of a proper fight, Elektra nonetheless kept her head, attacking the periphery of the men on the right side, herding them away from the front of the building. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daniel was doing something similar on the left side, making sure that the gathered men didn't get the chance to go around to the back of the building, and become a bother for Luke and Claire.

The pain in her limbs, chest, sides, and right leg began to fade as she got into the fight, striking to knock her opponents senseless. Most of them were armed with clubs, but broken wrists made it difficult to hold a weapon properly, and hard strikes to the sternum made breathing or even staying conscious much harder.

One of the men she'd kicked in the chest flew in Daniel's direction, and he gleefully shoved another man in his way, causing both to collapse into a heap of tangled limbs. Two rapid punches on his part ensured the two men stayed down, and he flashed a grin at Elektra.

Just as she was restraining the urge to sigh, a flying body coming from her left got her attention. Stopping it with a hard knee to the face, Elektra followed up with a hard punch to the solar plexus that ensured the man went down and stayed there. She glared to her left, and saw Daniel giving her another grin.

Rolling her eyes, she twisted the arm of a man who was until this moment armed with a knife, punched his shoulder to dislocate his arm, and then kicked him hard in the chest to send him flying. Suddenly appearing out of nowhere, Daniel slammed his fist down on the man's chest to deaden his forward momentum, and send him straight to the asphalt. Daniel grinned at her again, and gave her a thumbs-up.

No longer restraining the urge to sigh, Elektra took out her excess annoyance about over-exuberant avatars of Kun Lun viciously out on the men still remaining, though she couldn't help but notice with a dark sense of enjoyment that the ones remaining didn't seem anywhere near as eager to attack she or Daniel.

Well - that simply meant that she wouldn't have to wait, she thought as she kicked the legs out from under a man, and punched him in the side of the jaw to knock him unconscious. Daniel was attacking the small group of men remaining from the other side, and between the two of them, all the twelve remaining men were down in seconds, the few still conscious groaning in pain.

Looking around, Elektra saw that Madame Gao must have made her exit after the men attacked, and sighed with annoyance.

"Yeah, she pulled that on me, too," she heard Daniel grumble from her left. Turning to look, she saw that he also had an irritated look on his face, though he brightened after a moment. "Hey," he said to her, to which Elektra raised her eyebrows in silent question. "That was pretty awesome back there," he said with a grin. "have you teamed up with people like that before?"

She decided to let him have a moment of hope before stabbing it, and leaving it to bleed out in the street. "Yes, actually," she said, as she turned and began to walk toward the entrance of the building. "Usually, it was Matthew."

As she thought, it seemed to throw a bucket of cold water over his good mood. "Oh. Well, we did alright, right?"

At this, Elektra paused, and looked at him over her shoulder. "I've had worse help in the past," she said as she continued her slow walk back down the stairs, around the still-unconscious bodies, and back into the building. Colleen, she saw, was breathing a sigh of relief, and sheathing her blade. Luke had his arms around Claire and his back to the entrance, and he relaxed as he saw she and Danny come back.

Claire was out of Luke's arms and looking over Elektra critically in less than a second, it seemed to her. "Yeah, you bled into some of your bandages," Claire said sourly. "Sit," she said, pointing to a chair.

Although she couldn't truly say why, Elektra sat down on the indicated chair, and let Claire go to work. To the woman's credit, she did so with a will - even her stitching was neat and precise.

"The weapons of Kun Lun and the Hand, working together against a common foe - the last remaining Finger of the Hand," Daniel was saying, looking annoyingly smug as he looked at her. "That was meant to happen, I think. Like, the way a long and bloody chapter finally ends, and a new one begins, right?"

Elektra sighed, closed her eyes, and massaged the bridge of her nose. "You're insufferable," she informed him flatly.

"I don't hear you saying I'm wrong," Daniel retorted with a grin. "Besides - fighting alongside you was a lot more fun than fighting against you."

"Perhaps for you," Elektra said with a smirk as Claire began carefully suturing the wound on her right shoulder. "They weren't much of a challenge for either of us, and Gao knew it. They were a distraction, nothing more."

"So, she'd throw a bunch of people in front of her just to be a distraction?" Daniel asked, shaking his head. "Yeah, that doesn't surprise me about her at all."

"Prior experience?" Elektra asked Daniel with a raised eyebrow.

His grimace and nod was answer enough, but he elaborated. "Yeah. She tried to recruit me. Much more than once."

Letting her eyes close as she felt Claire beginning to suture the wound on her right thigh, Elektra sighed. "What this suggests is that she's going to keep using the same book of tactics, and that she has no intention of deviating from it," she said, before opening her eyes, and looking at Daniel, Luke, and Colleen meaningfully. "This means that until Gao is dead or has a dramatic change of heart, I am going to be a danger to anyone around me. I..."

"Don't even start that bullshit," Claire interrupted her, looking up into Elektra's eyes with an angry glare. "I've heard that line from Matt more times than I can count. All this means is that you need allies to get this done," she said, her glare changing into a look of challenge. "Unless your plan is to do this alone?"

Giving Claire a flat look, Elektra shook her head. Of course, her intention was to do exactly that, but... she may have a point. "What allies would I ask? The only ones I know of who possibly could still see me as their enemy," she said more softly.

"You mean, like me and Danny?" Colleen asked, drawing Elektra's gaze to her. "Or Luke? The ones who did so already without being asked?"

Feeling chagrined, Elektra nonetheless pressed on her point. "I couldn't ask you - any of you - to help me in this. Not after what I've already done."

"Well, you're not asking," Luke said, folding his massive arms over his chest, and giving her a smile. "We're offering, there's a difference."

"You don't trust me, and you have no reason to," Elektra retorted. "What possible reason could you have?"

Colleen walked to stand directly in front of her, looking directly into Elektra's eyes. "Honor," she said with quiet force, before shrugging. "That, and I'm a romantic at heart, and I want to see you and Matt have a chance at a happily-ever-after," she added with a smile, her eyes twinkling.

Elektra sighed, and massaged the bridge of her nose. "Somehow, I knew there was an ulterior motive," she said with a glare at Colleen, but the corners of her lips lifting into a smile gave her away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As some of you may see, this whole sequence of events is coming out very different than I had originally planned - for which I'm glad. 
> 
> I promise to do my best in the future to restrain myself from making fisting jokes at Danny's expense. And, as always, I humbly welcome and all feedback you have.


	9. Flickers in the Embers

Luke never thought the woman who seemed like a hurricane in human form would ever seem... uncertain. But, he realized that he wasn't all that surprised either, given what she'd dealt with. In fact, as he'd been learning today, she may have had a worse time than they did - which was definitely saying something.

She was no stranger to pain and fighting, as he well remembered - and her sitting still with barely a twitch as Claire sewed up her many large, open wounds with no anaesthetic just served to highlight that. Well, he could work with that. As Luke did his best to hide a smile, he realized that Elektra and Matt really did have many things in common - not least of which was apparently a guilt complex.

That said, he still had certain things he wanted to know. "Hey Claire," he said casually.

"Yeah?" she answered, not looking away from the careful stitching job she was doing on Elektra's right thigh.

"What happened right before Elektra here woke up?" he asked, looking at both of them curiously. "It sounded like you were surprised a few times."

This also seemed to get Elektra's attention, as she looked at Claire curiously as well. Claire sighed, and finished a careful knot before replying. Though he noticed as she did, she looked directly at Elektra to give her findings. Smart woman - help make sure Elektra felt included, and not talked around like she wasn't there.

Scratching her chin with the edge of a latex glove, Claire was silent for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. "When you were brought in here, you had no heartbeat, you weren't breathing, your body's core temperature was far too low at sixty-five degrees, but your hands were reading at one hundred ten. Your wounds weren't bleeding, but they didn't seem to be healing either. It was like you were in suspended animation, or something," Claire said, her eyes narrowed as she explained.

"But then, right after Danny here lit his fist up earlier," Claire continued, looking more perplexed, "you shuddered once, and your core temperature started to rise. Every few seconds after that, your body convulsed slightly for a moment, and your core temperature increased again," she said, pausing as she pursed her lips. "Right before you woke up, your heart rate was steady, you were breathing, but your core temperature then was one hundred one even - the same as it is now."

Looking surprised, Elektra raised a single slender finger to her own neck, and her eyes widened as she felt her pulse. "I haven't had a heartbeat since..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "And, I obviously bleed properly now," she said, almost to herself.

"Look, I don't know what happened to you before," Claire said to Elektra, as she took off another pair of latex gloves. "I'd heard that you were a zombie, brought back from the dead. No heartbeat, and utterly ruthless."

Elektra took a slow, deep breath, giving Claire a small smile. "That much was true, at least."

"I don't understand what happened with you today, and I've heard people explain it three times already," Claire said, looking exasperated. "What I can say is that while your core temperature is a little high, you seem to be a living, breathing human to me," she said, raising her eyebrows for emphasis. "Not a zombie."

Looking out the front of the building, Luke recognized the thousand-yard stare on Elektra's face - he'd seen it enough when he was in the military to know. However, she looked down at her left hand, and watched as it closed into a fist. "So, this is my second resurrection, then," she said after a few moments of silence, but then she looked back at Claire with a small smile. "As resurrections go, I've had worse."

Claire snorted. "It says a hell of a lot about your life that you can judge that based on past history," she said, shaking her head as she finished taping down a bandage over each of Elektra's wounds.

"I kept all my memories this time too," Elektra said with a thoughtful smile, looking back down at her left hand. "That's definitely an improvement over last time."

"So, what was it you were throwing up?" Colleen asked. "Was that the... Substance that Bakuto and the others talked about?"

Elektra nodded soberly. "Yes. I know that I feel different now, but I don't know how much has changed."

"Well, you were faster today, even with your injuries," Danny said, scratching the back of his head thoughtfully. "Faster than you were before anyway, and you were still sending people flying when you kicked them hard enough," he said, before brightening. "Are you feeling really hungry right now? I always am after I have to use my chi," he said, his stomach rumbling for emphasis.

Luke watched as a look of surprise washed over Elektra's face. "I... am, actually," she said, placing a hand over her bandaged stomach for a moment. A moment is all she seemed to give herself however, since she took a deep breath, and got to her feet, looking at the others. "I cannot thank all of you enough for what you've done for me today, especially given recent history," she said quietly, but forcefully, looking at each of them in turn. "But if you choose to help me make sure Gao is stopped for good, then you must understand that I fully plan on separating her head from her neck."

Danny opened his mouth immediately to argue, but Elektra shook her head while holding up a hand to stop him. "I understand your objections, and I even somewhat agree with them when it comes to a good portion of those in her employ. Matthew and I have had discussions and arguments along the same lines, several times - I certainly don't intend to execute every single person there with her. However," she said, a darkly determined look in her eyes, "Gao is the last remaining head of the snake. This isn't over, and will never be until her head is rolling on the floor, separate from her body."

Luke nodded slowly to this. He didn't like it, but he got where she was coming from. Nonetheless, he had his own line to draw. "Can you promise me right now that not one innocent person will die because of this?"

Tilting her head at him thoughtfully, Elektra replied to him after a moment. "I can do better than that. I can even promise to not kill anyone who attacks us with non-lethal weapons," she said, before crossing her arms, and staring into his eyes. "If they have a lethal weapon, or if it's Gao, then they're fair game, and I will not hesitate. Is that acceptable to you?"

Sighing, Luke took a deep breath before nodding once. Looking at Danny and Colleen, both nodded with a smile when he looked at them. "Alright, we're agreed, then. Do you want anyone else with us?"

Pursing her lips in thought, Elektra shook her head after a moment. "No. As much as I'd like Matthew here with us, it's my fault he's still in the hospital. As for Jessica, she's impressive, but I doubt she has a case involving Gao."

"Fair enough," Luke said. "Do you have a plan already?"

"I always do," Elektra smiled to Luke. "Let's meet at the loft I'm staying in two hours. We'll go from there to Gao's warehouse, and end this."

Luke watched as Colleen and Danny held a brief, but silent conversation before turning back, and both nodding with a smile. "Sounds good," Colleen replied.

"Definitely," Danny added with a grin. "Hey," he asked suddenly, "want us to bring food?"

Colleen slowly turned her head to look at him incredulously. Ignoring her, Danny continued. "I ask because I know the cooks from the Royal Dragon - the place is still renovating, but they'd be willing to hook us up."

"Why are you so sure cooks for a place we were involved with utterly destroying would be eager to make you food, Daniel?" Elektra asked him suspiciously. "I'm surprised any of them would be willing to listen at all, and not immediately hang up on you after the first hello. Or worse yet, give the number you're calling from to the police."

"I uh," Danny scratched the back of his head. "I paid the owners back for the entire cost of fixing up the place after that night, and I... kind of bought the building they're renting. They even said to just let them know if I wanted any food delivered. They were pretty cool about it," he added with a grin.

Elektra's left hand crept up to massage the bridge of her nose. "Of course that's what you did," she said with a sigh. "Very well. Have them bring an assortment by in an hour, then - that should give us enough time to properly have a meal, and plan the attack."

"Sounds good," said Colleen. "I can take you home then, whenever you're ready."

Looking briefly surprised before the look disappeared, Elektra nodded once to Colleen. "I'm ready now. You have my thanks."

"No problem," Colleen said to her with a smile. "Want me to grab that for you?" she asked, pointing to the cardboard box. "Carrying that probably wouldn't be fun with your shoulders messed up," she asked with a smile.

"Yes, thank you," Elektra said, with a small smile to her in return. "I'll be along in a moment."

"Take your time," Colleen replied with a smile, before walking over to the large cardboard box. Glaring at her, Danny darted over to it first, and picked it up instead. Rolling her eyes, Colleen walked out the now-ruined front of the shop with him to her car.

Looking like she was having an internal struggle for a moment, Elektra closed her eyes, took a breath, and then looked back at Luke and Claire directly. "Thank you," she said quietly. "To both of you. I know this whole thing isn't finished yet, and that there's more that will have to be dealt with properly. Even so," she said, taking another breath. "Thank you."

"That looked painful," Claire replied to her with a smile. "But, you're welcome. For what it's worth, I'm glad you're not a zombie."

"For what it's worth in return, so am I," Elektra replied with a small smile of her own.

"I'm glad to be working with you, and for a good cause, than against you," Luke told her meaningfully. "I'll see you in an hour."

Smiling in return, Elektra walked out the front of the building to Colleen's car.

Waiting for the car to leave, Claire then bonelessly collapsed onto Luke's chest and groaned. Chuckling, he wrapped his arms around her, and held her close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In full honesty, this chapter didn't feel to me like it flowed as well as the others had - but then again, I'm still knocking the rust off these fingers, and very critical of my own work.
> 
> As always, I humbly welcome your feedback.


	10. Chaotic Webs that Free Minds Weave

Though she wouldn't say so to the woman with her, Colleen had an ulterior motive for being willing to take Elektra back to her loft. Having never directly met the woman and only really heard stories before all this started, Colleen wanted to get a good read on this woman's mindset. Especially since she hadn't been acting to type over the past week.

Despite Bakuto's betrayal - not only of her as his student, but the ideals and mindset he'd taught her - Colleen very much was a student of Miyamoto Musashi's philosophies on life and combat as a samurai. What this meant in this instance was that she wasn't the sort to rattle a bush until a fox ran out and left the rabbit alone, she'd simply cut the bush in half, and the fox with it. "Sorry about the rental car," Colleen said casually, observing Elektra's reactions carefully out of the corner of her eye.

The woman in the passenger seat closed her eyes for a moment. "I'd completely forgotten about that amidst the utter debacle today turned into," she sighed, before opening her eyes once more and looking Colleen's direction. "Once this is all over, if you'd be willing to drive me back out there to get it, I'll give you recompense for the petrol."

"Petrol?" Colleen glanced at her with raised eyebrows and a smirk.

Elektra rolled her eyes, but gave a small smile. "You Yanks and your irritating habit of ignoring proper etymology in favor of trendy slang. You know what I mean."

That caused Colleen to laugh. "It's a mark of cultural pride, this is true," she said before smiling Elektra's direction. "And no problem - I would even without a bribe."

Elektra raised both eyebrows in question. "Oh?"

"Sure," Colleen shrugged. "It's always handy to have an undead ninja owe you a favor," she said, and managed to keep a straight face.

Giving her a disbelieving look for a moment, Elektra finally massaged the bridge of her nose and chuckled. "Thankfully, my status as undead seemed to have only been temporary. With that said however, if you truly need someone dressed in their pajamas to follow someone else, let me know. It would certainly be less dramatic work than the rest of this week has been so far."

"Can you follow someone in business casual instead?" Colleen asked, keeping this joke going as she checked her mirrors before turning. "P.J.'s are kind of unusual in New York."

"What about a clown costume?" Elektra said, looking thoughtful, but Colleen saw how the corners of her mouth were quirked up. "Unusual, perhaps, but I daresay nobody expects to be followed by a clown."

"Refuge in audacity - clever," Colleen nodded, trying to not laugh at this point. "In fairness though, it would have worked better if you were still a zombie. Many people are terrified of clowns, you know."

"That would be bad for trying to be subtle," Elektra mused, "but it would still work nicely if you wanted to give someone a rather unsettling day."

"Are you thinking of getting a clown outfit to fight crime?" Colleen asked with a raised eyebrow, but unable to completely hide her smile. "Because I can't decide if that's awesome or painfully funny."

"Well, there's nothing saying it can't be both," Elektra sniffed with mock-haughtiness. "Confusion is always a useful tactic, after all. Besides - I'm sure I can find a proper clown outfit I can wear my favorite coat with."

"So, New York is going to be visited by Perp-Slapper the Clown?" Colleen asked. "Well, we have some clown in red and blue bouncing around already, so you'll be in good company," she mused further, while hiding a smirk. "Matt, Danny, Luke, and Jessica are thinking of helping one another out and calling themselves the Defenders, so maybe..."

"I'm not going to pick someone at random to adopt for my cause of spreading peace via clown costumes in New York," Elektra retorted. "I'd like to think I have at least some standards."

"Speaking of standards," Colleen asked casually, "what are your plans after you've dealt with Madame Gao?"

"Trying to live," Elektra said meaningfully. "In some ways, for the first time. Though in my specific case the clown costumes are thankfully optional."

At this, Colleen finally gave into her stifled laughter, feeling a bit more relaxed around the woman in the passenger's seat of her car - for now, at least. "Well, that's good. It seems like you can't be too sure lately."

Elektra nodded at this. "Especially with strange women around doing strange things, immediately after being involved with dramatic things."

"Well," Colleen prevaricated for a moment. "Yeah. Like that. Listen, this must look like we don't trust you..."

"You don't - and to be blunt, you'd be foolish to," Elektra replied, glancing at Colleen. "That you, Daniel, and Luke would be willing to act as you did is commendable, actually."

Colleen blinked at that. This was not the response she expected once this potentially sticky subject came up, especially since the subject was Elektra herself. "What do you mean?"

"None of you trusted me at all, and none of you had any reason to after all the events that happened before and during the Midland Circle incident," Elektra explained, seeming tired, but determined. "Especially when I started acting against what all of you save Matthew knew of me. You collectively made the decision that keeping a closer eye on me was better than keeping one further away. By acting to assist me in certain ways, you could not only see up close how I was behaving, but would also be in a position to try to mitigate the damage if I went daft. It was a tactically sound decision on your parts, and an efficient one in that it put all of you in a position to influence multiple outcomes of the same situation."

Blinking slowly, Colleen almost missed the turn to the street on which Elektra's loft was found, and corrected her mistake with a quick U-turn once traffic allowed for it. "Shit, were we that obvious?"

"None of you wore signs or put up billboard advertisements saying so, but it wasn't too difficult a puzzle to figure out," Elektra smiled, unbuckling her seat belt as the car smoothly glided into a parking spot. "Additionally, though you're fairly light on your feet, Daniel is not."

Shaking her head as she got out of the car, and hefted the large cardboard box of papers from the back seat of her car once more. "Damn," she exhaled as she lifted the box with her legs. "I'm definitely getting my workout today."

"That reminds me," Elektra asked, as she helped Colleen with the box up the several flights of stairs to her loft. "You practice kenjutsu as your preferred sword style, yes?"

"Yeah," Colleen answered with a smile. "I've focused on that primarily since I first learned. Do you have a favorite?"

"Yes, though I don't think I would have admitted it out loud before now," Elektra sighed as she helped Colleen maneuver the box up the next flight of stairs. "Zatoichi kenjutsu is mine, though I truly do need to practice."

"Wait, why wouldn't you want to admit that out loud?" Colleen asked, perplexed. "And why Zatoichi specifically?"

"The answer to the first would be because I learned it from Stick, and I don't like thinking about him," Elektra said darkly. "He and I did not have a good history, one could say. As for the second, one could say that Zatoichi best embodies chaos as a style - it's a sentiment I like, especially for a sword duel."

"Somehow, I'm not surprised that you like causing chaos," Colleen said, with a friendly smirk. "That said, if you think you can control your zombie strength, I'd like to spar with you sometime. My dojo hasn't seen enough good spars in it."

"That makes sense," Elektra replied with a smirk. "Daniel being there would be enough to bring down the level of spars in your dojo, after all."

Colleen rolled her eyes at that. "You know, most people would be impressed by what he can do. His teaching getting cut short wasn't all his fault."

"Just most of it?" Elektra retorted, but nodded afterward. "My main issue with it comes from my perspective with the Hand, which I definitely know wasn't an unbiased source," she continued, shaking her head with an annoyed look. "However, the point remains that the monks of Kun Lun never really attempted to further refine or expand on the arts they knew, while the Hand did. Yes, the monks of Kun Lun stayed relevant because of the no-mind focus they learned, but that focus could only ever close the gap between them and their Hand adversaries. Without the innovation along with the focus they used, they were always on the defense because of that stagnation of technique."

"So..." Colleen prompted Elektra, even as Elektra was opening the door to the abandoned loft that currently served as her apartment.

"I just learned how to save my own life and sanity because I pushed myself to learn how," Elektra retorted, and then shook her head. "I suppose that's unfair of me to think of him in those terms. Nonetheless, I know for a fact that I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time getting to know the changes I've gone through, especially with what I recently learned that allows me to move faster than usual. The fact that Daniel can still only summon his chi into his right fist is... disappointing, really."

"So, you want to spar with Danny too, is what I'm hearing," Colleen smiled, as she helped Elektra move the box to the part of the loft that served as Elektra's study area. "Nice place, I have to say. I was expecting something more depressing."

Elektra laughed at this. "Something evocative of Edgar Allen Poe, I suppose?"

"Yeah!" Colleen grinned, warming to the idea. "You just need a grouchy talking raven, some black curtains..."

"Yes, some proper items of distinction," Elektra said with a smirk. "As for Daniel..." she sighed. "Read through some of the papers I put in that green folder over there on the desk. The Hand may have been a bunch of amoral bastards of breathtaking scope, but they kept pretty good records. The records they had on previous holders of the Iron Fist title should help illustrate what I mean. Look through them if you like, and make yourself at home - I desperately need to change," Elektra said, before walking into the bathroom to do precisely that.

Shrugging, Colleen walked over to the old desk Elektra was using, and began to leaf through the papers in the green folder. To her surprise, she saw detailed notes and observations of capabilities of various incarnations of the Iron Fist, including observations and effects by generation. She quickly became absorbed in the reports, seeing entries where previously observed Iron Fists were able to fill both of their fists with their distinctive chi, and some were even capable of doing so with their feet, elbows, and knees. Directing the energy to be used for healing was something she had personal experience with, she thought as she touched the place where she'd been poisoned, but these reports made it clear that far more was possible than simply dissolving poison within someone's body.

This also brought to mind the comparison Elektra made, and very likely why she made it - while there were many notes and clues that Danny could follow to move further on the path he was on, Colleen hadn't found any notes even distantly referencing anything even close to what had happened with Elektra. Just like with what Elektra was planning to do with Madame Gao, she was forging a new path for herself, too.

"What do you think?" Elektra asked her, distracting Colleen from her thoughts, and the papers strewn about.

After taking a moment to collect her thoughts and return to the present, Colleen gave Elektra a smile. "I think we should be sparring."

To this, Elektra blinked, and then smiled. "After Gao is dealt with, definitely. When are Daniel and Luke arriving?"

Checking her phone, Colleen shook her head in disbelief. "Danny texted me to say that they're bringing four of everything, and that they'll be here in about half an hour."

Giving her a quizzical look, Elektra sought to clarify. "When he says 'everything,' did he mean..."

"Yes," Colleen sighed. "Four of literally everything on the menu."

Elektra sighed, and shook her head. "On the plus side, we'll have enough for a victory feast of sorts for when we get back."

"Fitting, since it's from the Royal Dragon," Colleen smiled.

"I just hope nobody gets hit by a car at random tonight," Elektra sighed.

To this, Colleen smirked. "Oh yeah, I heard about that. No, I'm pretty sure that's just you, and only if Jessica is involved."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, I had planned to have Colleen & Elektra have a relatively short conversation here, and then move onto food, planning, and then going to pay Madame Gao a visit. 
> 
> I sat down to write this chapter out today, and I had the idea of Elektra letting Colleen know that she knows what everyone is doing - it came out well in the conversation, and then... it just kept going from there. So yeah. I wanted to move the story along plot-wise this chapter, but Colleen & Elektra just gave me the finger and went back to talking.
> 
> Fair enough, I thought. They have this cool samurai & ninja dynamic anyway.
> 
> Terms: "kenjutsu" is the name for the japanese art of using a katana (samurai sword), or at least, one of the main ones. "Zatoichi" is a term I'm using for the style Stick uses with his sword in the Defenders, which to me is very reminiscent of Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman's style, where the blade is wielded back along the arm, rather than forward at the ready, as normal. It definitely isn't the only style Stick uses between the Marvel Daredevil and Defenders shows, so I'm inferring that he would have taught Elektra at some point.
> 
> I humbly appreciate your feedback in advance.


	11. The House of the Falling Sun

Danny walked back and forth toward the front of the former barbershop, pacing as he tried to work off some nervous energy.

"You worried about your girl being around Elektra?" Luke asked, as he finished sweeping up most of the debris, looking with disappointment at the ruined interior of the building around them.

"No. Yeah. Kinda," Danny said, sighing. "No, I'm completely fine with my girlfriend being alone with a Hand assassin," he grumbled, as he pulled out his phone.

"This is what we talked about, Danny," Luke told him, giving him a meaningful look. "Matt gave her a chance, almost at the cost of his own life. So either he really is a moron in ways we didn't see, or he was right to do it. And if he was right, then we owe it to him to give her that chance as he would," he said, sweeping up broken glass into a dustpan, his massive form engulfing both broom and dustpan like they were children's toys. "You saw how she was acting. She's trying, Danny - and this is part of acknowledging that."

Danny squinted at him. "Aren't I supposed to be the optimist here, trying to talk you into doing things?"

Luke rolled his eyes, and chuckled. "I guess it was just my turn this time."

Sighing, Danny began to make a call. "Fine. I'll order food then," he said, immediately switching to Mandarin once the phone picked up, and speaking rapidly.

Shaking his head, Luke dumped the now-full dustpan into the metal trashcan he'd brought in from the back alley. Danny only paid half attention to him, as he made very sure his new friend the cook at the Royal Dragon was cool with making four of everything on the menu. "It would be like free advertising for the restaurant," Danny wheedled to the cook in Mandarin. "You'd be doing us a great service, and we'd be humbly grateful for..."

"Oh fine, fine," the cook grumbled bad-temperedly in Mandarin to Danny. "I want to be paid for it, and you're paying the full prices on the menu. Fei's orders."

"Yes!" Danny replied with a grin to the cook in Mandarin. "We'd consider it a great honor to have such good food before we..."

"Fine, fine," the cook grumbled. "Are you going to come get it when I'm done, or do you want it delivered, too?"

"Uh," Danny replied intelligently. "Well, I don't have a car right now, Colleen should be..."

"So, you want it delivered, too." the cook replied flatly, still in Mandarin. "Fine, but you're paying twenty dollars extra for it. Where are you?"

"One moment," Danny replied to the cook in Mandarin. "Hey, Luke!" he called in English, getting the larger man's attention. "Should we have it delivered here, or to Elektra's place?"

Luke actually massaged the bridge of his nose for a moment. "Claire has a car, Danny. We can go get it, and then just bring it over."

"That's even better. Thanks, Luke," Danny said brightly. "So, it looks like we can pick up the food from you after all," Danny told the cook in Mandarin.

"Oh, good. You saved yourself twenty dollars," the cook replied sarcastically. "It'll be ready in thirty minutes. Come by then, and don't bring trouble with you this time," the cook added before he hung up, not bothering to wait for Danny's reply.

"I think I may have annoyed the cook," Danny mused, as he looked quizzically at his phone.

"Maybe you shouldn't keep asking them to make you food every night, Danny. Especially when they're not even open yet," Luke said, giving Danny a pointed look.

"Well, this way they keep getting more money to help them re-open, right?" Danny asked. "If they get more money, then..."

"You're still asking them to do work when they're closed, Danny," Luke informed him while crossing his arms over his chest. "They probably don't want to tell you no, since you paid for all their damages and repairs, but it's still a bit much, man."

Looking chagrined, Danny scratched the back of his head. "I didn't even think about that."

Luke said nothing, but just smiled slightly as he swept up a new pile of debris from inside the shop. For his part, Danny sighed, and sat heavily into one of the chairs that was least ruined by the gunfire earlier today. "I guess I'm just worried," he said as he grabbed a broom, and helped sweep up.

"Understandable," Luke nodded while dumping another pile of debris into the trash. "None of us expected this week to work out the way it did. That said though," he said while giving Danny a meaningful look, "once the game is set, and you've made all the moves you can, you just gotta let the game play out. Just like chess."

Danny nodded to this as he swept the rest of the debris into a single pile. "If this plays out like we hope though, what does this mean for Elektra?"

Luke gave him a kind smile. "That's up to her. Matt would probably know what goes through her head better than we would," he said, as he dumped another pile of debris into the trash can. "Alright - let's get that pile there, and then I'll let Claire know so we can get going."

Nodding, Danny helped Luke get the last of the pile of broken glass and other detritus into the trash, looking around with satisfaction once he was done. Claire was packing up the last of her medical supplies into her bag, and smiled at them both when they greeted her. "We ready to go, boys?"

"You know it," Luke said, giving her a gentle kiss. "I kind of wish you could be there, but..."

"...But work and money is a thing," Claire replied with a wry smile. "Besides, I think I had enough excitement last week with Midland Circle, and this week with patching up Elektra after she decided she was Russian and wrestled a bear."

Luke chuckled, and held her close for a moment. "Yeah, sorry babe. You know some crazy people."

Danny grinned, and held his right fist up, glowing softly with energy from within it.

"Yeah, you're a case in point," Claire told Danny while laughing. "Let's go get you your food, and I'll drop you two off."

The trip itself was fairly undramatic, the most exciting thing happening was the cook's surly looks at Danny when he got the food and gave the cook cash. The cook counted the cash, nodded, and then slammed the door in Danny's face.

Shrugging, Danny carried the bags full of food in cartons into Claire's car, and they continued into the older residential district of Hell's Kitchen, full of buildings abandoned after the Incident, most of which had yet to be cleared out or fixed up. After checking the address twice, Claire slowly turned down the street indicated, and parked behind Colleen's car.

Luke and Danny split the bags of food between them, Luke giving Claire a kiss before she drove off. The two men stood in front of the forbidding-looking, badly-lit building, seeing lights on within the upper floor. They shrugged, and began to walk to the entrance, when Danny heard the very distinctive sound of metal striking metal - of a blade parrying another blade, and it was coming from inside.

His eyes widening, Danny ran up the several flights of stairs with Luke right behind him, and he burst into the door - only to slow to a complete confused stop.

Luke stood immediately to the left, and smirked at the sight when he arrived. Danny looked at him incredulously, and then looked back at the scene.

Colleen and Elektra were sparring with their respective swords, and they weren't going at all slow. There was a rapid series of strikes and parries, almost too fast for Danny to keep track of - when they each took a step back, and started laughing. Colleen stood in a ready stance, her sword held in both hands, parallel to her body. In contrast, Elektra stood in a lighter stance, with a blade held only in her right hand, held backward and behind her body, up and along her arm.

"You are so full of shit," Colleen was laughing.

"I'm really not. I haven't practiced Zatoichi in years, and never in a spar," Elektra replied with a grim smile, as the two closed again into a blur of strikes and parries.

Luke and Danny watched, mesmerized, the food forgotten in the bags they carried as they watched the two women duel, their respective blades moving so quickly to only be silver blurs. Suddenly though, Colleen stepped into Elektra's guard, shoulder-checked her in the chest, and held the blade at her neck as she hit the ground in one smooth motion. Her shoulders heaving for breath, Colleen grinned down at Elektra, and pulled her blade away.

"I cannot believe I fell for that," Elektra said sourly, shaking her head with annoyance as she lightly leapt to her feet.

To this, Colleen laughed. "I told you we should spar. And still you doubt my wisdom," she said, making disappointed tsk'ing sounds.

"Maybe I should try using normal kenjutsu," Elektra said to Colleen with a calculating look.

"Maybe you should practice more," Colleen grinned at her. "Oh, hey guys," she said with a smile to Luke and Danny. "Sorry we didn't hear you arrive - we were a little distracted."

"I can see that," Luke replied with a smirk. "When did this start?"

Elektra shrugged as she helped Luke and Danny set all the food containers on the long, old table she had in what functioned as the living room/kitchen of her loft. "In retrospect, it would have come up eventually, I think. We started talking about sword styles shortly after we got here."

"Pretty much," Colleen said with a shrug, and a smile. "Oh!" she said, suddenly remembering. "Elektra, can I give Danny that green folder?"

The woman in question got out plates from her cupboard as she nodded in Colleen's direction. "Certainly. If you didn't, I would have offered it at some point."

"At 'some point,' huh?" Colleen smirked.

"Yes, eventually," Elektra replied with an answering smirk.

"What did we just miss?" Danny asked Colleen, looking confused. "What was that 'eventually' thing about?"

"She was going to see if you could figure any of it out first," Colleen said, smirking again at Elektra. "So... is anyone actually hungry right now? I'm not just yet."

Shaking her head, Elektra set the last of the many food containers on the long table. "No. I likely will be after we're done, though."

"So," Luke said, as he leaned comfortably on the doorframe of Elektra's kitchen/living room. "Should we get to planning for tonight?"

Nodding grimly, Elektra walked over to a folder on the counter, and unfolded a large set of blueprints from it. "This is the building Gao calls her castle. The blueprints are modified version, to include some of the changes she's made to it over the years, but it doesn't account for all of them," she said meaningfully. "However, that does give us a starting point."

The other three nodded, studying the map as Elektra began pointing out entrances, exits, and weak points in the structure. "Unlike with Midland Circle, I don't know if any innocents will be there," Elektra said darkly. "So, speed must be of the essence of this plan."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked her with squinted eyes. "About Midland Circle, and innocents."

Massaging the bridge of her nose, Elektra replied quietly. "In retrospect, I should have done more to help you. What I did at the time was make sure all innocents were out of that building well before the four of you arrived, made sure to wire up the building with explosives, and I made sure the surviving Fingers of the Hand were all together, at the very bottom of the pit."

"Yeah," Luke squinted in thought. "I remember Claire saying it was weird that they found another set of explosives. So that was you?"

To this, Elektra nodded with a wry smile. "I didn't expect all of you to bring your own, but I suppose I should have. No explosives this time, so we'll have to be careful."

Luke had to admit that he was impressed at the plan she laid out. "Looks like you have all the bases covered," he said, nodding in satisfaction. "I can't think of anything we're missing. Colleen? Danny?"

Danny had his eyes narrowed in thought as he examined the plans, but he soon shook his head as well. "No, I think I'm good. Colleen?"

Having studied the map already, Colleen nodded once. "The only tricky part will be that possible underground area she has beneath the warehouse floor. I don't see any entrances to it from the blueprints."

"Yet another thing that wasn't included," Elektra sighed. "So, is everyone clear on the plan otherwise? Any objections?"

The three all shook their heads after checking with one another, and Elektra smiled grimly. "In that case, I'll get ready."

Luke had much experience with waiting for women to get ready, but those were mostly for dates, and not... waiting for Elektra to finish assembling her tactical kit. Something that she had finished doing in less that three minutes, to his surprise. He saw that she was wearing that same damnable long black coat he remembered, but her hair in a ponytail and a black mask over the bottom half of her face helped to soften the image of her that he remembered. "Everyone settled, then?" she asked the others as she finished tying the mask behind her head.

With her being the last one not ready, the four set off through back alleys and winding streets toward Madame Gao's warehouse. It was a walk of about a mile through winding and trash-strewn alleys as the four walked with determined strides, closing the distance in minutes.

"Is there a reason we're not taking the car?" Danny asked as they walked.

"If something goes wrong, then the car with us in it is more easily tracked," Colleen told him as they walked. Elektra nodded once to this.

"It's just a precaution, nothing more," she added to Colleen's statement.

The four fell back into silence as they closed the distance, and finally saw the warehouse itself in the deepening evening. Once they did, they all slowed to a stop, taking a moment to steel themselves. "Colleen, make sure the workers get out unscathed," Elektra said to the slightly shorter woman, who nodded once. "Luke, if you'd be so kind as to get their attention at the front, Daniel hit from the right side entrance, and I'll go from the top down. Are we clear?"

The other three nodded once more, and they broke apart. Danny walked with purpose to the side entrance, Colleen walking with him. Luke walked like an unstoppable goliath toward the front entrance, while Elektra ran up the side of the building, and vaulted up onto the roof without a sound.

The guards in front of Luke looked a bit nervous, fingering their guns as they saw him. "This is a private business. We're closed," one of them said in an authoritive tone.

Luke kept walking, and didn't even slow his stride.

"Hey!" the other guard called to Luke, annoyed. "This isn't your momma's house, man," he said, laughing at his own joke.

Luke wasn't laughing, and he wasn't slowing down. The two saw that he would be on them in seconds if he didn't change his stride.

Nervously, they readied their assault rifles at him. "Get back, we mean it!" one of them called, his voice slightly shrill in his anxiety.

Having still said nothing to them, they both opened fire at him, stopping in shock as they saw the complete lack of damage they were doing to Luke, apart from his t-shirt. "People like you are why I'm about sick of always getting new clothes," he said to them, before smacking their heads together, knocking them both unconscious.

He un-readied the guns, ejecting the clips and the spare rounds, and threw them into a trash bag in the nearby dumpster. Walking past the now-unconscious guards, Luke got his first glimpse of Madame Gao's inner sanctum.

The people inside moved with slow, mechanical movements, and it took Luke a few moments to see why. With horror, he realized that all of them had had their eyes removed, nothing but empty sockets where eyes once were. They didn't appear to notice him as he moved through the rooms, something that disturbed him more than the sight of their sightless eyes.

Pushing into the room beyond, Luke found that he was now in a large, darkened warehouse, mostly empty. Empty, that is, except for the small, unsmiling figure of Madame Gao standing in the center of the room, looking at him with what seemed like disappointment. "Of all the people I expected to arrive at some point, you were not one of them," she said to him with a calculating look. "Unless, of course, one who did asked you for their help," she said with a small smile. "Was it young Daniel? So sure of an evil villain that must be destroyed with the power of punching?" she continued, with a mocking note to her voice.

Luke simply stood still, and said nothing.

"Nothing to say? That tells me it was your young friend Daniel," she continued, smiling benevolently at him. "One must be careful - he is impetuous, and rarely stops to get all the facts of a situation before leaping into it. Tonight serves nicely as a case in point, I think," she said, gesturing expansively. "I am but a humble businesswoman, trying to pick up the pieces of a life of thousands of years of planning, shattered. Like anyone else, I'm just trying to make my way in the world. Surely you can see that?"

"Just like your workers can't?" Luke retorted as he crossed his arms, having just about met his limit from this woman.

"I take in criminals, and the destitute," Madame Gao said sadly. "Not all of them truly understand what it means to fit into a society, so adjustments must be made to ensure they live healthy and happy lives."

"And a healthy, happy life means they get their eyes cut out?" Luke asked sharply.

"Yes, this way they cannot see that which they are not meant to see," Madame Gao smiled kindly at him. "You served in the military, I understand - surely you understand the importance of operational security?"

At that moment, the cement wall behind Madame Gao exploded inward, Danny's glowing fist the first thing visible through the debris and dust. Danny himself strode through the hole he'd made in the side of the building, walking up to Madame Gao, and stopping the same distance from her away as Luke had.

Madame Gao began backing up toward the doorway to the warehouse, shrouded in shadow behind them - only to stop, and turn to look at the doorway. Seeming to melt out of the very shadows themselves, Elektra emerged from the darkness of the entrance, fixing Madame Gao with a glare.

Madame Gao's mouth opened, as if to say something, but she closed it without a sound.

"Thank you both, Daniel, Luke," Elektra said to both men, while her eyes continued to bore unblinkingly into Madame Gao's. "I can take it from here."

"If you're sure," Luke shrugged, and began walking out the hole in the side of the building Danny had made.

Neither Madame Gao nor Elektra seemed to move or breathe for a few moments, until both men were out of sight and earshot.

"So, this is your solution?" Madame Gao asked Elektra quietly. "Instead of realizing that you have far more to learn, you instead decide to try to murder the one who drew attention to it?"

"Your 'solution' involves my death, and you choosing a new unlucky child to become your next pet assassin," Elektra retorted, as she began to feel her heart pumping liquid fire into her veins again. "If this is the supposed 'wisdom' you're so proud of, then it becomes my duty to make sure you retire. Quietly, or not."

Madame Gao regarded Elektra in silence for a few moments, and then slowly ducked down into a crouch, with one hand still on her little cane. Madame Gao just as slowly placed her free hand palm-down on the floor of the warehouse, and smiled at Elektra.

A moment later, the ground shook, and a massive crack appeared in the cement of the floor. Far from stopping, it began to rapidly multiply, the floor beneath their feet crumbling rapidly into dust, sending both Elektra and Madame Gao falling downward.

Unperturbed, Madame Gao landed lightly on her feet, brushing dust and debris from her shirt and shoulders delicately. Elektra had landed in a crouch, rising to her feet as she regarded Madame Gao with narrowed eyes. The room they were now in appeared to be an underground training room - vast, with a wide array of weapons displayed all along the walls.

"To challenge one of great wisdom and power," Madame Gao said with a teacher's cadence to her voice, "Is an exercise of folly unless you understand what they understand. And child, you know nothing of who you challenge," she said, idly gesturing off to the side. As if in answer, a sword lifted from the rack on the far wall, and flew at high speed directly at Elektra's right eye.

To her newer perceptions, the sword seemed to move through water to get to her. Twisting to the side, she reached out and caught the handle of the sword before it flew past her, and examined it. "Japanese make, with a straight edge. A daito," she remarked, as if she were at an antique store. "Well, if this is the blade you want me to end your life with Gao, I suppose I can fulfill that request."

Madame Gao's eyes narrowed as her hands stretched out to her sides, and weapons along the walls began to lift from their displays, and fly through the air to spin around Madame Gao like a veil made of sharp steel. With another gesture, eight of the blades suddenly launched themselves from their orbit around her, and flew at Elektra, point-first.

Dodging out of the way, Elektra consciously breathed embers into her heart, feeling it respond with pure fire that almost felt like it would burn her internal organs to ash. Even so, the swords seemed to move through the air in slow motion, unable to change direction in time before she was past them, past the edged steel veil, and behind Gao, her back to the older woman.

Everything in motion around the two stopped suddenly, hanging in mid-air for a moment before dropping to the ground with a clatter of steel against cement. Elektra felt the handle of her blade, held underneath her left armpit, with the blade straight through Madame Gao's neck. After a moment, she viciously yanked it out before turning around, and walking to look Madame Gao in the eyes.

"This time, you rancid piece of shit," Elektra said before whipping the blade straight across her body and through Madame Gao's neck, "stay down."

Silence seemed to fill the room like smoke as the hollow sound of Madame Gao's head hitting the floor echoed around her. Elektra closed her eyes for a moment, taking a slow, deep breath as she felt the fire within her begin to quell.

After the moment had passed, Elektra climbed up the latter on the side of the room back to the main floor of the warehouse, and picked her way around to meet Luke, Danny, and Colleen at the designated meeting point.

"Is it done?" Colleen asked her, her eyebrows raised meaningfully.

Elektra nodded slowly, taking another deep breath as the four began to walk together. "Yes, the Hand nonsense should be over now, except for the loose ends from their holdings in various parts of Asia."

"So, now what will you do?" Luke asked Elektra.

"I think it's about time for that food Daniel managed to get," Elektra said with a small smile, as she tugged down her mask. "After that..." she sighed. "Matthew and I really do need to have a proper talk, now that all the fireworks are over with."

Colleen looked at Elektra critically for a few moments, until the taller of the two had had enough. "What is it?"

"Just wondering if Madame Gao managed to shoulder-check you," Colleen replied with a grin. "Your defenses aren't great."

"Oh, do shut up," Elektra said with a smirk, rolling her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up feeling like the longest so far. I meant to lay more of this groundwork last chapter, but ultimately, the conversation and beginnings of friendship between Elektra and Colleen I felt was important enough for Elektra's development as a character that I just left it as it is.
> 
> Events in this chapter came out looking a little rushed to my eyes as a result of that, but perhaps that's just me.
> 
> Also, I admit to flat-out deleting three chapters in a fit of annoyance a few days ago, not really realizing that all comments would be torched along with them. So, my apologies for your comments being deleted with those chapters. For what this is worth, I promise to only edit, not delete chapters after this.
> 
> As before, I humbly welcome your feedback in advance.


	12. From Artificial to Natural

Matt let himself awaken slowly, the sounds, smells, and feel of the hospital around him quickly assembling the world around him in the back of his mind. Taking a deep breath, he smiled slightly as he realized he felt no pain. Stretching out in his hospital bed, Matt luxuriated in the feeling of not feeling twinges of pain again. He felt this was a guilty pleasure though, as Hell's Kitchen had been without Daredevil for a while now.

In fairness, he'd hung up his red outfit in the trunk for a while, wanting to cleanse his mind and soul - but Midland Circle made it very clear to him that he had been running away from his responsibilities instead of clearing his head. With that in mind, Matt took a secret, guilty happiness in the rest he'd been having over the past week, feeling all his injuries and discomforts fade into the background noise of the hospital over time.

Today though was his last day, and that meant he took an extra few seconds of enjoying the comfort of laziness in his bed before getting up, getting dressed, and going with the nursing assistant to get checked out. The sounds of people frightened, families reuniting after tragedy, and people overjoyed for those they love wafted around him like gentle breezes, whispering stories of life and humanity to him as he passed. His heart gave a twinge at the fear, he felt his lips twitch at hearing people's joy after trauma, and he smiled at the sounds of an especially exuberant family happily hugging their hospitalized member so closely that the small one was almost buried.

"Right this way, sir," the nurse next to him said, gently leading him by the arm through the hallways. Matt was content to let her for now - privately, he cursed himself for being lazy for being willing to lean on his disability for this, but on the other hand, there was a small part of him that wanted to feel as if what he did hadn't been for nothing.

Letting the nurse lead him along, he privately mused to himself about this. He hadn't minded sacrificing himself to ensure the pain of his home was at least kept at a low ebb, and was perfectly willing to do so for the rest of his life. However, even though he didn't consciously want a reward or anything for doing so, he did at least want to feel like what he did at least had a positive effect. Right now, he still wasn't sure.

The nurse led him to the nurse's station, and kindly let him know that there was a braille pad to his left to sign paperwork with. As he did so, Matt's mind returned to the present, because the paperwork here for his hospital stay didn't make sense. "As grateful as I am for this," Matt began in a kind voice, "there seems to be some mistake. I only had a lower-tier insurance to cover this visit, so there should be a fairly substantial bill, correct?"

The nurse expressed surprise to this, but gave him a smile in return. "Oh, no sir - not at all. All your expenses were paid for using the highest tier possible of care. Your sponsor seemed adamant that you receive the very best care possible, and to spare no expense."

That... didn't at all make sense, and made him rather more suspicious. "My... sponsor?"

"Yes," the nurse said with a warm smile. "She said that you and she both had the same teacher once upon a time, and was willing to spend the money to make sure you were well taken care of."

Matt felt the smile freeze on his face, but he had to know. "Did she say who she was? I'd like to thank her for it."

"Oh, of course," the nurse said, and he began to hear the rustling of papers. "Here it is - she left a card with her place of business the last time she was here, in case we had any questions. It looks like a nice place - a little coffee shop where Midland Circle used to be. Isn't that nice? Here you go," she said, handing him the card.

Slowly blinking, Matt began to feel a headache forming. He was about to nicely explain for the ten thousandth time that being blind, he couldn't read business cards - but to his surprise, he felt the raised dots of braille on the card itself. He let his fingers lightly move over them, and felt his eyes squint closed.

"Chaste Hand-Made Coffee & Imports

Elektra Natchios, Owner"

Opening his mouth once, Matt closed it again, unsure of what he could say. Apparently drastically mis-reading his facial expression, the nurse continued. "She was very pretty, and she seemed to care about you a lot," she said, and Matt could almost see the coy smile on her face. "Maybe being a lawyer for Hell's Kitchen has some benefits?"

"Yeah," he said distantly, somewhat hoping that he was still dreaming all of this. "I should catch up with her."

"Yes you should, she seemed pretty concerned about you," the nurse continued with the same coy tone. "There you are - all your paperwork is settled. You're free to go, Mr. Murdock."

"Thanks," Matt replied, giving the nurse a tired smile of gratitude, and taking a deep breath. The scents and sounds of the hospital made a tapestry around which he could center himself.

Mistaking his intent, the nurse gave him what felt like a sympathetic smile, and gently wrapped her arm in his. "I know it can be overwhelming, but just take it one step at a time. Before you know it, you'll be back to your old life, like nothing happened."

Matt gave her a twisted smile. "One can only hope."

"Oh, it will - you'll see," she informed him with the air of one who's said this many times, to many troubled people before. The sounds and smells of greater New York suddenly assaulted him as the outer hospital doors opened, sketching a much larger painting that took him a moment to adjust to feeling. "It'll happen before you know it. Here you are - your cab is waiting right in front of you."

Matt stopped, feeling that this wasn't right at all. "I didn't order a cab."

"Oh, it was part of your care package," the nurse replied to him with a kind tone. "She specified that you were to be called a cab to take you home once you were released."

"How... nice," Matt said with a tight smile. "Thank you for your time, nurse. You didn't have to do this."

"Oh, I know," she laughed, "but I've had friends and family in the same position. I really don't mind."

"You're very kind," he said, gently patting her hand in thanks. "Thanks again for everything."

"You take care, Mister Murdock," he heard her call to him as he walked to the indicated cab, and he waved to her with a smile in return. The cab driver opened the door for him, made sure he was in, and then immediately got into the driver's seat and took off.

The cab driver didn't pay him the least bit of attention as he drove, talking on his earpiece in a language Matt didn't recognize by sound the entire time. Matt didn't mind - it gave him time to puzzle over how Elektra appeared to be causing chaos with his life again. It would be one thing if he knew where she was mentally, or what she was thinking - but it seemed like every time he got to the point where he did, her life changed drastically - or worse, she was trying to deny the very thing that kept him unable to turn away from her completely.

She had the spark of light within her, but she had been told so many times and so many different ways that she was a monster. For her, really facing the idea that she did indeed have a spark of light within her would mean acknowledging that many of the things she had had to deal with weren't fate, weren't justified, and weren't right. It was a terrible choice to be faced with from her position, and he didn't envy her. With that said however, he wasn't going to let her drag him down into the shadows, either.

But... there was the fact that she had somehow brought him out from beneath the ruin that the Midland Circle building had become, and the fact that she had made sure his hospital stay was paid for. It didn't make sense.

He felt the cab slow to a stop, and listening and smelling through the window, he confirmed that the cab had indeed brought him right in front of his apartment building. He offered the cab driver a tip, which was mindlessly accepted as Matt got out. Shaking his head about people's inattentiveness, he opened the outer door to his apartment building, and began to walk up the stairs.

He stopped halfway up the first flight.

Matt knew Elektra's heartbeat as well as he knew law - perhaps better. For the entirety of the Midland Circle debacle, she had had no heartbeat, and was utterly and terrifyingly silent - until she wasn't. Now though, he felt her heartbeat coming from above, and it was... louder than he remembered it being. Hotter, in a few ways, which seemed puzzling. What made him narrow his eyebrows, however, was that the heartbeat was coming from his own apartment.

Clenching his jaw, Matt took his time walking up the next few flights of stairs. He didn't smell her distinctive perfume in the stairwell, but he did smell it faintly from his apartment now - which means she didn't climb up the stairs to get to his apartment. He darkly wondered if she would still be there by the time he opened the door, or if he'd simply find another memento missing.

At last, he reached his door, and smelled the faint smell of orchids coming from beneath the doorframe, as well as what smelled like... beer, of all things. Narrowing his sightless eyes, Matt opened the door to his apartment, and felt the sight of Elektra sitting in his favorite armchair, an opened beer in hand. His jaw clenched at how familiar this felt. "Why are you here, Elektra?"

He could feel the small smile on her face as she took a sip of her beer, and set it back down. Her rich, smoky voice with that upper-class English accent danced around her words as a belly dancer might. "I missed your German beer selection, of course."

"Elektra, I don't need games right now," Matt informed her flatly. "I need to know what you're doing."

He heard her sigh, and braced himself.

"I've made many mistakes, Matthew," she said quietly. "You've said many times that you saw the light in me that I didn't want to see," she said softly, gracefully getting out of the chair, and slowly walking toward him. The slow swishing sounds of her clothes, and her now fiery heartbeat seemed to freeze him in place. "As much as I don't want to admit it, I don't think I could have until I were in a situation where it was my only way out," she said just as quietly, stopping just in front of him.

"So, that's what the hospital bills were about?" Matt asked, not wanting let himself get his hopes up again.

"Among other things," she replied, and he could feel the coy smile on her face. "I'm actually going to become a legitimate businesswoman."

"Did you really have to pick that name, of all names?" Matt asked her, annoyed.

"That's precisely why I picked it," she said, as he felt a cold glass bottle being pressed into his hand. "As a middle finger to Stick, to the Hand, to their secret war, to all the broken and destroyed plans they left in their wake."

He felt the label of the beer in his hand, the lettering finer, and different than he was familiar with. "This isn't the kind I usually get," he said slowly.

"Of course not," she replied haughtily. "You have this terrible habit of picking only the very worst of the beer selection, so it falls to me to ensure that you're not simply making your taste buds seek penitence."

He snorted, but he didn't let himself relax yet. "What are you doing, Elektra?"

"I wanted to repeat what I said to you under Midland Circle, those days ago now," she said, and he smelled her perfume more strongly as she stepped up to be only inches away from his face, reminding him headily of orchids. "I am sorry for all the pain I've caused you, Matthew. I'm trying to make up for it," she said before leaning closer to him, and he tried not to shiver as he felt her hot breath in his ear. "No matter how long it takes."

Matt sighed, took a sip of the beer, and set it down. "You're being more forthright than I expected," he said flatly to her.

To this, she actually laughed - albeit quietly. "I realized that the game I enjoy most with you is just being with you - you didn't really need my help to be interesting, I just told myself that so I wouldn't have to look at certain things."

Matt stared in her direction for a moment, and then reached down and took another sip of his beer. "What do you want, Elektra?"

"You," she said quietly. "I have more things I need to do, some leftover nonsense from the Hand's idiocy that needs to be cleaned up - but I want to make a real life for myself here - and I want to spend it with you."

Matt massaged his nose. "Elektra, I don't want to play these games with you anymore," he said to her, looking as tired as he felt. "I do want you in my life if you're not still fighting against yourself, but I want you to feel happy and at peace with yourself more than that," he explained, hands outstretched to make his point. "But I can't keep doing this tapdance with you, where you're trying to get me to kill, and I'm trying to get you to live. Elektra, it doesn't work."

"I don't want you to kill, Matthew," Elektra told him quietly before she softly kissed his nose, her hot breath dancing lightly across his face. "I want you to be the man you already are."

"And I want you to be able to try to let go of your rage, and stop using it to drive yourself down into the depths," Matt told her plainly.

"The coffee shop was a small step with that," she told him with a small smile. "I'm... trying to reconcile myself with my memories of Stick, and how I knew him. It'll take me much longer to be fully done with that, but Colleen and I sparred yesterday, and... I used Stick's old style against her. Then, there's Gao..."

Matt rubbed his eyes. "What did Madame Gao do?"

"Die," Elektra said with a smirk. 

Matt lifted his hand from his face, and did his best to glare at her despite not being able to see her face.

"She made it clear that she wanted to reclaim the Black Sky for herself," Elektra said darkly. "While you were in the hospital, I found out exactly what the Black Sky actually is - and it's worse than you think," she said, as he felt a warm, female hand with callouses on the palms gently grab his. "The Black Sky within me got tired of me fighting it, and so forced itself to leave me - because only with its influence was my body able to even pretend to be alive. I managed to find a way to live anyway - Gao was displeased by this to the point where she tried to have Claire kidnapped to get Daniel and I to submit to her."

"So, what happened with the Black Sky?" Matt asked, in a softer voice.

"I killed it, after it told me that it wanted to watch me die," Elektra said, her shrug making the air dance like sprites around her. "After quite a bit of studying, of course."

"What were you studying?" Matt asked, despite reminding himself to stay skeptical.

She laughed ruefully. "I learned as much as I could about how and why it functioned the way it did, and how it actually interacts with its hosts. Amusingly enough, it had a weakness to living energy, the same type Daniel focuses. I used that to draw it out, and doing that apparently also helped save my life when I had to be resurrected again."

Matt blinked at her slowly. "You mean to tell me that you died again?"

"Yes," she informed him with a wry smile. "I am now apparently a connoisseur of resurrections. Personally, I liked the one where I kept my memories and heartbeat more."

Matt looked at her using all his senses, and her explanation did give a reason as to why she felt more like her old self, and yet... not. He also belatedly noted that she hadn't been lying about any of this, but he also knew he didn't yet know the whole story. "You seem... hotter, than before. Is that part of it, too?" he asked.

"Why Matthew," Elekra told him with a gasp of indignation, and he could hear the teasingly aghast tone in her voice. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to take advantage of a poor, innocent woman in your home. Right after you got out of the hospital, no less!"

"It must be the medication, I don't know what came over me," Matt retorted flatly.

"Must be," she agreed in the same shocked and appalled tone. "Why, it's enough to make a woman not want to break into her ex-boyfriend's house anymore!"

Matt couldn't help but chuckle at that. "So, I have to ask," he said, before taking another sip of his beer. "Why a coffee shop? Of all the possible things you could have picked... why that?"

"Well," Elektra told him with a shrug, "there are a number of important reasons," she said, before taking a sip of her own bottle. He tried to not be fascinated with even the little movements she made. "First, Starbucks mortally offended me to the point where I was tempted to execute the entire store's staff and burn the building down to the foundation," she said, and he could tell that an annoyed look flitted across her face as she took another delicate sip of her beer.

Catching the look Matt was giving her, she shook her head. "I didn't do it, don't worry. I didn't even set the manager's car on fire, and I can most certainly tell you I had reason, means, and opportunity," she said with a smirk. "Beyond that, I went to a small coffee shop shortly after the Midland Circle incident, and got myself a small coffee - to warm my hands, and to think about everything that had just happened," she said, and Matt just listened, hearing the sincerity in her voice that wasn't usually present.

"Having that quiet time, with a mug of warm and comforting coffee after so much chaos and tragedy was something I didn't know that I needed until then," she said, her voice quieter than before. "Being able to use the funds formerly owned by the Hand for a good purpose," she continued with twin notes of amusement and pride in her voice, "to give people a place where they might perhaps have a similar epiphany as I did - I felt that was something worth working toward."

Nodding to this, Matt gave her a smile.

"That, and I wanted to spit on the graves of both Stick and the Hand at the same time," she said with an indifferent shrug. "It was the efficient move, I thought."

Matt began to massage his temples. "Of course that's what it was."

He felt her hands gently grab his, and pull them from his temples to be held. "I made sure to add conference rooms to the place, in case a certain plucky lawyer from Hell's Kitchen wants to have a proper conference," she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice, even as her warm thumbs gently rubbed the backs of his hands. "Or even for get-togethers with fellow violent insomniacs such as yourself. Either way," she added with a shrug, but Matt could still feel the heat of the smirk on her face.

Squeezing her hands in return, Matt pursed his lips for a moment before speaking. "I want to believe you, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop."

With that, he felt very warm lips gently brush across his, and another ghost of her warm breath across his face. "I have my own place - I won't be imposing on you. You've waited for me for years, I trust that I can wait until you're sure in return."

"You're talking about trust after you broke into my apartment? Again?" Matt asked her, though without heat, and with a smile on his face.

"Well, some things should be done for old times' sake, don't you think?" she asked him, right before he felt her hot breath on his cheek, followed by the feel of her lips.

"I think that depends entirely on what other things you mean," he replied, even as he wrapped his arms around her. Elektra's nearness was setting his blood on fire, just as it always had.

"Well," she replied coyly, as he felt her press herself against his chest, "if I recall correctly, your bed's mileage could use some work. The futon really should have more of the attention from us that it deserves, and your bathtub was always an experience to be shared."

"So, no more Chaste, no more Hand, and no more killing?" he asked, bringing his focus back to the present.

"Yes, yes, and... most of the time," she replied.

Matt began to massage the bridge of his nose again. "Damn it, Elektra," he said with a sigh. "How many?"

"Three," she replied without pause. "With Gao being the third and last."

"And who were the first two?" Matt asked her, feeling his tiredness creeping back.

"Two hitmen hired by Wilson Fisk," she replied calmly. "One was hired to imitate Frank Castle's particular style, and the other was hired to imitate mine. I paid the three of them a visit in Fisk's office after they arrived that night. Don't worry, I left Fisk alive and ambulatory."

Matt paced for a few moments, letting the movements calm his mind. "And you didn't do anything else?"

"Well, I told Fisk that he was being watched," she said, and he could feel the smug smile in her voice.

Sighing, Matt turned back to her. "Anything else?"

He could feel the slight air movements generated by her nonchalant shrug. "I'm sure Luke, Daniel, and Colleen could tell you their side of how the Gao debacle went, but beyond that... no."

Massaging the bridge of his nose again for a moment, Matt looked in her direction, and sighed as he opened his arms. Almost instantly, he felt his arms filled by a very warm Elektra, slowly but thoroughly kissing his face while her warm, soft but calloused hands gently touched his cheeks. "I think I can live with you like this," he said with a smile," as long as you cut down on the heart palpitations you give me."

He felt her throaty but quiet laugh in his ear. "No promises there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my mind, Elektra had some journeying to do as a person before she and Matt could really meet on equal terms, and she wouldn't have been able to do it properly with him holding her hand to do so, as romantic as it may sound. 
> 
> The sad truth is that I'm sure we've all met people in real life that become amazing and interesting people through their own journeys, and not because they relied on others to show them were to step. As the saying goes, you can show someone else the path you took, but it may not be the one they need to take. I felt that Elektra very much needed to do this on her own, especially after I thought more about what life must have been like from her perspective during the events of The Defenders.
> 
> The show did quite a lot of "show, don't tell," which I really liked - but it also meant that some subtler events didn't get spelled out, though they did get shown. My interpretation of events in the series as they pertain to Elektra is pretty much my own opinion only, I'm pretty sure - but that said, I do think it fits all the facts more neatly than other explanations I've seen or read.
> 
> So yeah - this is the "lighter" Elektra I saw her becoming through her experiences and choices. Not actually all that different than before, it's just that she thinks a bit differently about herself - and will therefore make different choices. 
> 
> Of my notes for this story, there's only the epilogue stuff left at this point. However, despite not normally being superstitious, I don't want to end this story on the 13th chapter. So, I'll likely just expand things a bit, and effectively make two epilogue chapters, for... reasons.
> 
> Moreover, as Daredevil is actually my favorite of the four Defenders, this story was and is a challenge to write, since its plot necessarily sidelined Matt while he recuperated. The challenge of course was to write Elektra as not just a woman, but as a person with agency dealing with these things, and choosing to change as a result. It happened a bit more dramatically than it does for most people in real life, granted, but I felt the point was still valid, and it would make the eventual reunion between Matt & Elektra mean more.
> 
> I wanted to work Misty in here as well, since she's a great character as well, but... yeah, during the time this story takes place, she'd still be in the hospital too.
> 
> You have my humble thanks for reading this story so far, and as always, I welcome your feedback.


	13. The Thirteenth Step

The waking world came slowly to her, as tired as she was. Elektra kept her eyes closed for a few moments, hearing the shop below her apartment coming to life, the smells of coffee brewing and pastries baking filling her nostrils.

Since the day the shop opened and for five weeks afterward, Elektra had made it a point to be the first one every morning into her shop, making sure the people she hired were treated as valued colleagues, and not minions. However, despite Matthew being back and feeling well enough to make criminals look nervously over their shoulders again at night, Elektra herself hadn't given up her own contributions to such. Apparently, she'd been a regular enough occurrence at night now for the past few weeks to warrant her own nickname.

However, this all contributed toward her being much less awake in the mornings over the past five weeks. Her employees had finally had enough, and told her that they were fine opening the shop without her. She of course protested, saying that this was her shop and therefore her responsibility to be the first one in and last one out, but one of her morning clerks put it best to her.

"Ellie, look," the woman with dyed purple hair had informed her in no uncertain terms after Elektra had dropped a bag of coffee, "We got this. Okay? You look like you got no sleep. Again. I'm not going to ask, but seriously - we got this."

Elektra evoked the stubbornness within her that had outlasted assassins, outlasted Stick, outlasted Alexandra, and outlasted the Hand's designs. "Clara, it is my responsibility to not only make sure this store fulfills its intended purpose, but to ensure that it runs as it should. I'd be abandoning those responsibilities if I were to simply treat this place as an investment."

Clara crossed her arms, and glared at Elektra through her purple bangs. "So you don't trust the people you hired to do the jobs you hired them for?"

Glaring at her, Elektra crossed her arms in return. "You know that's not true. I'd just be remiss if I were to..."

"To what?" Clara interrupted, her irritation growing. "Actually sleep?"

"No," Elektra said firmly. "Be the sort of owner who placed all the responsibilities on her employees, and accepted none for herself."

The two other employees, a small woman named Jamie and a younger man with long dreadlocks named Jwanza were busy in the back, listening to what had become a daily argument and pretending not to. 

Clara of course was not going to let this go - Elektra was beginning to realize with tired dismay that she may be in fact almost as stubborn as she was. "Yeah... you know that's what most business owners actually do, right?" Clara asked her sharply. "Don't make me kick you out of your own store."

"You'll what?" Elektra asked, laughing.

Clara stepped closer to her, and glared up into Elektra's eyes. "I'll kick you out of your own fucking store, Ellie. I'll even make sure Jwanza stops hooking you up."

Elektra glared down at the shorter woman, putting the full force of the cold fury that had torn Madame Gao apart like a house of toothpicks in a hurricane into her gaze. "You'd try to prevent me from getting coffee from my own shop?"

"In a heartbeat, bitch. Go sleep," Clara snapped in return, not backing down even a millimeter, though her face softened after a moment. "Seriously, we got this. Go."

Sighing, Elektra looked around the shop, trying to find another angle to attack from. "What if someone asks for a manager again?" she asked archly. "As I recall, she wasn't going to leave until she complained at someone dressed more nicely than she."

"You think I needed you for that?" Clara scoffed. "I've dealt with that bullshit before, many times - I just made you deal with it because I didn't feel like it, and because you kept offering."

Elektra opened her mouth to argue, realized she had no more arguments, and reluctantly closed her mouth.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Clara crowed in triumph, but her face widened into a grin. "Seriously, if you lost a debate with me, you really should get more sleep. Weren't you able to out-argue that lawyer boyfriend of yours more than once?"

"Yes, well," Elektra chuckled. "That's because I don't fight fair."

"Exactly," Clara said, nodding sagely. "You've taught us well." 

Snorting with laughter, Elektra finally rolled her eyes, and hung her apron on the rack. "Fine. Call me if you need anything, anything at all. I trust I have your word on that?"

"Yeah, yeah," Clara said, rolling her eyes. "We can't miss you while you're gone if you don't leave."

Walking around to the side of the building, Elektra ascended the small, spiral staircase to her own apartment, and changed into clothes much more appropriate for exercise. Quickly tying her hair back into a ponytail, she grabbed her sheathed daito, put it into her gym bag, and left.

It was only a few minutes' drive to reach the Chikara Dojo. As Elektra neared the door, she saw Colleen kneeled on the mats inside, meditating. As Elektra reached the door and was about to knock however, Colleen's eyes snapped open as Elektra's shadow blocked the sunlight from in front of her. Smiling, she got to her feet, and waved Elektra in.

"You reek less of coffee than usual," Colleen told her with a grin as Elektra bowed in respect to the dojo, and walked inside. "You finally unbent enough to take time off during the day?"

Elektra sighed. "Something along those lines, yes."

Looking at her a moment, Colleen burst into laughter. "Oh, wow. They kicked you out, didn't they?"

"Do you want to spar, or not?" Elektra asked, still annoyed.

"I think I need a minute," Colleen said, before bursting into a gale of fresh laughter. She was leaning against one of the pillars in the room, she was laughing so hard. "Well," she said at last, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes, "at least you know they agree with you about not allowing bad quality into the store."

"Are we going to spar, or are you going to continue making terrible jokes at my expense?" Elektra asked, irritated, as she got her wooden practice blade from the wall.

"You say that like we can't do both," Colleen retorted, still chuckling, as she got her own practice sword. "Like, it's only possible for the people you hired to work well while you're there, or something."

"Oh, that's it," Elektra snarled, charging at the woman who'd unexpectedly become a good friend of hers, and trying to shoulder-check her into the wall.

Colleen spun with the motion, kicking Elektra in the back as she passed, sending her toward the wall instead. The moment Elektra was off-balance, Colleen aimed a hard, two-handed overhead slash directly at her neck. Darting to the side, Elektra ducked down, and tried to sweep Colleen's legs out from under her. Instead, Colleen flipped backwards, landing on her feet with her practice sword in a ready stance.

They exchanged a rapid series of strikes, parries, and dodges for several minutes, before Elektra flipped the blade around in her right hand, the blade of it now pointing up, along the length of her arm.

Her eyes narrowing, Colleen gave Elektra a wild grin. "So, zatoichi comes out to play. Let's see how your defenses are now, hm?"

With that, the two were engulfed in a furious whirlwind of sword strikes, neither willing to let the other even have an inch. Neither even tried to retreat or back up at all, simply trying without pause to find or create holes in the other person's defenses to exploit. Elektra finally succeeded in knocking Colleen off of her feet, only to see Colleen simply side-flip back to her feet. Colleen managed to trip Elektra in return, only for Elektra to twist in mid-air and land on her feet as well.

After a number of minutes, the two paused for a moment, their shoulders heaving as they both tried to catch their breath.

"Feel better?" Colleen asked her with a grin.

"Much," Elektra sighed.

"So, what happened today?" Colleen asked, throwing Elektra a towel before grabbing one for herself.

"My late nights are catching up with me," Elektra sighed, as she wiped the sweat from her face and neck. "I dropped two bags of coffee this morning during prep time, and they'd evidently had enough of someone sleep-deprived."

"You pay them well, and have their backs if anything happens," Colleen shrugged. "As long as you keep doing that, I think you'll be okay."

"I'd be just any other exploitive would-be despot attempting to make money," Elektra grumbled. "That's not why I'm doing this."

"You're doing it for the same reason powerful people own banks," Colleen nodded seriously.

Raising an eyebrow in a very skeptical look, Elektra observed Colleen looking sympathetic. "For the free coffee. I completely understand."

Elektra promptly threw a towel at her, and Colleen managed to catch it even while laughing.

"Oh hey, that reminds me," Colleen said while putting the towels in the basket to be washed. "You're okay with being called a lady of the evening when you dress up in black, right?"

Elektra glared at her. "It's 'Nyx' when I join in on the caped idiocy at night, and I'll thank you to remember it. It was given to me by a very nice girl three weeks ago - it's not my fault it stuck."

"It still means you're a lady of the evening," Colleen shrugged.

"Nyx was the goddess of night, you twit," Elektra glared.

"Are you wearing more red now?" Colleen asked, attempting to look innocent. "A red letter on the back, maybe?"

"It's crimson, not scarlet, you stubborn ass," Elektra sighed. "Besides, if I were to wear a scarlet letter, it wouldn't be for the simple act of making men's eyes roam."

"Well, yes," Colleen said with a smirk. "The one you wanted can't see, so his eyes won't roam. I think you did that on purpose."

"Yes, Colleen," Elektra said, rolling her eyes. "I picked him out in college for exactly that reason."

"You did pick a pretty good guy," Colleen shrugged as she finished clearing up the dojo to lock up. "I mean, he's okay with you being a black guy."

Elektra slowly turned to look at Colleen, and gave her a slow blink.

"Oh - Black Sky. Sorry," Colleen said with a grin. "You know how easy those things are to confuse."

"I must have tortured kittens and kicked puppies in a past life to deserve a friend like you," Elektra sighed.

"Nah," Colleen said as she locked the doors to the dojo behind them. "it's just that your defenses are still terrible, and I'm acting on divine impulse to remind you of this."

"Oh good, and here I thought it would be something pretentious," Elekra said flatly, shaking her head.

"Nope, just reminding you that you owe me coffee," Colleen grinned at her.

Elektra rolled her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is actually the name of an album from the band A Perfect Circle. For the album, it was meant to symbolize the invisible last step past the twelve steps of recovery. For Elektra, this is the first day of the rest of her life, following the patterns she's already set for herself over the past two weeks.
> 
> Initially, for reasons of being a superstitious ass, I didn't want to end this story on the thirteenth chapter. Now however, it seems appropriate.
> 
> All of you have my gratitude for reading this all the way to the end. I'd appreciate any and all thoughts or criticisms you have.


End file.
